What is this meme really saying ?
Firstly, I think it is interesting that this meme has that kind of ancient Greek or ancient Egyptian hieroglyph look and feel to it.
The meme itself suggests that employees could be ‘slaves’ to a boss in some way. That they have to just accept where the direction is set and the boss actually adds burden to the execution of the task in hand by sitting on the load that they are dragging.
I guess if we think back to the narrative that we have learned in our own education, about the building of the pyramids, then we can accept and almost relate to this kind of leadership, management or directive style. Are bosses, in fact all bosses seeking immortality, perhaps… ?
The reality though is that what this meme tell is a more complex story than one of simply people dragging a block of stone and being further burdened by having to support the weight of their leader. True, we all support the weight of our leader in various ways, but that is not necessarily a bad things right?
In the absence of the presence of our leader, we are a proxy for our leader (in business) and therefore that’s one of our, burdens. We have to relate our understanding of the leader’s values and principles and articulate them in order to represent them when they are not present.
To effectively execute on the mission of our job, our department, the business that we work in, we have to have a keen awareness of the intent and mission of the business that we work for and its leadership.
In the end, the message here is not so much to those folks dragging on the rope, it is a message to the bosses and leader wannabes.
The meme is saying that if you really want to be respected and recognized by your team as a true leader, then you need to pull your weight too! Sometimes that simply means communicating more clearly and articulating the mission.
It may be obvious, but sometimes stating the obvious is not redundant.
