Though the definition itself is somewhat derogatory, that author has dispelled this notion through this book. As a believerin the law of averages, and quoting from his own experience of around forty years, the author says that there would bemore good guys in organizational corridors of power than bad ones. Yet there is big room for improvement for the goodguys too. A leader has a much larger role to play which affects performance and progress of the entire organization. Atthe core of leadership lies vision, mission, direction, wisdom, sacrifice and also a moralistic stance. In contrast, the roleof a boss is more 'hands on' and largely revolves around and is focused towards 'people management' and interpersonalrelations with the employees of the organization. The boss subordinate relationship becomes very personal and that iswhy one would say 'He is my boss, and you will seldom get to hear anything like, 'he is my leader.' It is the softer part ofleadership which is the hardest to manage! Putting it in another way, a boss is in your immediate vicinity with whom youdeal on a daily basis, whereas a leader may be visible only from a distance. During the Gilded Age, in the 19th centuryin the United States, bossism was a system of political control centering around a single powerful figure-the boss. Thecentral figure had tremendous clout and influence in terms of political control. In that context also, boss was to do morewith «control†? and perhaps nothing to do with leadership. In the modern environment, bossism is about 'atmospherics',which has a direct impact on a subordinate's performance as well his personal life and happiness too. Therefore, bossismis skewd more towards emotional intelligence rather than the IQ of a boss.
