What is the Othello-Boss Syndrome?

Othello had murdered his beautiful wife, suspecting infidelity due to jealousy. An Othello boss is an insecure leader who feels threatened when his subordinates come up with bright ideas, believing that, as the boss, no one else is entitled to think or work in ways he appreciates. Such people are a cancer of the system. They harm development and public welfare, which is the reason they were appointed. Hemashri exposes a deep-rooted ill in governance in the weekly column exclusively for Different Truths.

Finally, Prema decided she needed to take a break and applied for child care leave (CCL) for a year. Balancing her responsibilities for ailing parents, children and her own job exhausted her. However, the most tiring of all was enduring humiliating episodes at work, which had become routine.

Prema Kondoly might appear to be a no-nonsense person to some, but deep down, she is very sensitive and tries to understand people and their behaviour. In her vast sea of vices, perhaps the only good thing is that she considers herself to be a good soul who treats everyone with due respect. It must be her strict middle-class upbringing by her teacher parents that has made her upright and fearless, so she does not know other ways of conduct. Maybe that is her strength and weakness in a world where networking and manoeuvring skills are crucial for forging ahead.

Often, Prema found that despite her two decades of an unblemished career, she never actually got to handle significant or challenging assignments. She would be assigned to do tedious, menial jobs that other officers hate. She got used to it and took it as her fate. However, things would not end there, and often she was completely sidelined to do purely clerical work. Her mother had always told her to go into teaching, but firebrand Prema wanted to pursue public service, so she chose the civil service as her career. Now, only she thinks about whether her mother was right or if she is a misfit for her chosen vocation.

Only Prema knew she had become a very confident officer. In some areas, such as matters related to court cases or enquiries, she delves deeper, and people always appreciate her reports. Maybe she is doing the right thing at the wrong place. She often finds resistance at her work. She wonders if it is because the majority have developed a dependency syndrome on subordinates. Because of her meticulous work, many of her subordinates and peers dislike her, though some cheer her on. When most officers are accustomed to simply forwarding files with a comment, Prema examines the files before her, noting her observations, justifications, or suggestions. The world is too fast, so who has the time? But Prema feels that every file involves someone’s life, so it deserves due attention.

Once, a fatherly boss had shown her a note from a senior lady officer, in which the officer had forwarded an assistant’s message recommending the release of a large sum of funds. The boss had told Prema, “Do not be such a careless and irresponsible officer. You are good and always examine issues and write with due justification. You shall win the confidence of senior officers.” The boss entrusted her with handling critical contempt cases, and he was a very encouraging mentor.

However, Prema now knows that some of her colleagues are her bitter critics for showing off “gyan” by writing detailed notes.

Prema was posted at a distant place during her first pregnancy. After delivering the baby through a caesarean, her first official assignment was to do a protocol duty at the airport. The road leading to the airport was in a dilapidated condition. She was determined to breastfeed exclusively, so she had taken the baby and the part-time babysitter with her. Later, she had told the friendly staff, “Dada, despite having so many officers, you all gave me this duty just after an operation.” The subordinate staff showed her the file note, which stated that another officer had been proposed, but the boss himself assigned it to her. However, even after returning to the office from maternity leave, she was not allotted any work for two months. She was very annoyed and planned to meet the boss. The feedback of a well-wisher had restrained her. The brother-like family friend had said that the boss told him that he would give Prema work only if she pleaded with folded hands before him. The boss considered Prema to be an arrogant woman. She decided never to approach her boss.

Prema was an active member of the ladies’ club and learned about her boss, so she never felt motivated to discuss her issues with him.

With two babies, Prema and her husband had moved to a remote subdivision three hours from the district headquarters. On the very first day of her joining, the head of the office asked Prema in a sarcastic tone why a city-bred girl like her wanted to work in a remote subdivision. He had also narrated that the place is devoid of all civic amenities. At that time, staying with her husband in the same place with two small kids was the greatest priority, rather than enjoying city life. But she had just smiled sheepishly.

Raijor Podulit Raijor Sarkar (RPRS) was an ambitious scheme to bring administration to citizens’ doorsteps by empowering people to lodge complaints against non-functioning government institutions. Prema had conducted such programmes in the field. Her boss entrusted her with preparing a detailed report to address the gaps and ensure the scheme’s success. Utilising her hands-on experiences, she wrote her report and PowerPoint presentation. Lack of awareness of government programmes in rural areas was a core issue leading to poor implementation, as was the lack of monitoring. When she gave the presentation, Prema could tell that her boss and everyone present strongly agreed with her observations. However, the very next morning, Prema received an order from her boss relieving her of her duty to handle the programme. After her dedicated work, she was a bit disheartened, but she remembered what she had read a few days earlier about Othello-boss syndrome. Prema’s husband, Mriganka, had also told her the same thing. Mriganko had proposed involving school, college, and university students in a programme to address a social issue. Accordingly, he prepared reports and PowerPoint presentations and organised a meeting to invite the concerned parties.

Mriganko was confident that this innovative strategy would bring administration closer to the people. However, just before the meeting began, his boss told him he did not need to attend, and he was sent off to do something very mundane. Mriganko could tell it was his turn to endure Othello-boss syndrome.

Prema is planning to explore what in her leads to such episodes during her long sabbatical for child care. So she would not be content with identifying Othello-bosses but also with understanding what actually triggers the syndrome. No one can even imagine how many organisations are losing productivity due to the Othello-boss syndrome, just as no one can estimate how many marriages are being ruined by the Othello syndrome in husbands.

How could Shakespeare conceive a character like Othello when psychology and psychiatry were still unknown domains? Oh, Othello, thou shalt live on for eternity!

Photos from the Internet

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Hemashri Hazarika

Hemashri Hazarika is an Officer of the Assam Civil Service since 1997. Her research on Assam Civil Service brought reforms in 2015. A first-class Postgraduate in Economics from Gauhati University, she was awarded JRF/NET by UGC in 1997. Her experience as a bureaucrat has sensitised her to human sufferings. A solutionist by passion, she takes an active interest in issues related to Governance, Development, Women, Children, etc. Reading, Writing, Speaking and Painting are her hobbies.