Are you expected to tip-toe/boot lick/walk on egg shells around your boss in the U.S.?

42 comments

1. Not in my experience. I’m sure there are some bosses that expect it and are shitheads, but it’s not a cultural norm.

2. There was a time when this may have been expected, but in the contemporary workplace, most of the employees are more aware of their rights as workers, and can be very troublesome for a shit boss. I do not tiptoe around my boss, and none of my coworkers do either, but in most conversations about work, I’m seen as an outlier because my job is pretty easy and my boss is a huge pushover.

3. Not in the least bit. I have no problem telling my boss (politely) that he has no idea what he’s talking about. Need to at least be professional.

4. No, the US is generally a country w a low power distance, not quite as low as some Scandinavian or Western European nations, but quite low nonetheless.

5. That’s going to vary wildly depending on your boss. My current boss is pretty chill.

6. My boss leaves me alone 90% of the time.

7. I treat everyone the same honestly

8. Heck no. I’m expected to be respectful, but that applies to everyone. My boss specifically expects me to do my job and call out bullshit when I see it. He expects that out of all of us on the team.

9. Uhh no

10. No, but Ass kissing is greatly appreciated.

11. Hell no. My boss is a pothead and a long-time Metallica fan.

12. If that was ever expected I was really bad at it.

    As long as the work gets done and no one’s being an asshole at anyone else everything’s always been very relaxed and casual.

13. No, I can tell my boss exactly what I am thinking or feeling. You have to be professional about it (unless they have set a casual tone already which mine did). Bosses that you have to walk on egg shells around don’t often stay around long or you don’t stay around long.

14. Entirely depends on the individual boss and your relationship with them.

15. Not at my job. We are very casual.

16. Not in my job. In fact, my boss comes to me often for advice on my department.

17. Really depends on the boss.

    I worked in a lot of service jobs before I got my degree and have worked with many people who have had higher education since then. I’ve found that it’s actually inversely proportional to the boss’s education level. The most relaxed boss I ever had was a PhD who I could directly insult (as he didn’t feel the need to prove his intelligence, etc.). A boss who only made it through high school, though, can be a bear.

18. No. Not at all

19. Depends on the boss.

20. Dear god I hope not because when I see stupid shit I have to call it out. It’s almost pathological.

21. No.

    You’re generally expected to be professional but even in the most conservative of occupations you’re not remotely expected to boot lick.

22. Not generally.

    It can happen, but it’s not considered normal, or something that a worker should tolerate. But it can happen.

23. I think it depends on the location, but generally no. In some fields you’ll actually go further or be more well liked by your boss if you give them push back on bad decisions. It’s all based on the person and company.

    In construction for example you need to be able to argue with your boss if they want something done in a catastrophically wrong way.

24. Is there a reason I would need to do so?

25. What? No. You watch too many cartoons.

26. Not in my experience. They’re afforded the same respect every person is. My bosses have purposefully not wanted to be surrounded by yesmen.

27. Only if your boss is a jerk

28. I bitch to my boss and he usually tells me about the corporate dumb fucks above him that won’t let us do shit that makes sense. If I had the ass kissing mentality I’d probably have his or a similar job by now.

29. Not at all. My current boss is a well-meaning and totally good dude. I have zero qualms about visiting his office and discussing anything.

    He’s extremely competent and that is why he is the boss, which is how it should be.

30. No, definitely not. Almost every boss I’ve ever had would consider that insufferable. Not to mention, part of my job is to provide opinions and push back against anything that seems wrong or could be done better, and help hold our department to high standards. I won’t be rude about it, but I need to tell my boss what I really think, especially if I think he’s on the wrong track or missing something. Fortunately, my boss is competent and decent, so I don’t really need to do much. But he treats me (and everyone here) as a valuable professional, not a lowly toady.

31. The only real expectation is to behave professionally

    What professionally means varies wildly by career choice.

    doctors , bankers, welders, servers, and strippers all have very different workplace decorums

32. Not my experience but I’ve been in Unions my whole life. It levels the field a bit.

33. No, and as the boss, I get really annoyed when people are highly deferential to me. Sure, there’s a hierarchy, but not so much that you can’t let your opinion be known.

34. No, but some work places make it challenging to do anything about a boss who does expect that. Smaller companies don’t always have HR-type professionals to help or a board of directors who can intervene. The law firm I work for has roughly one case a year that involves dealing with a micromanaging and/or blowhard boss.

35. lol no

    It helps to be tactful but as long as I’m not calling my boss slurs or yelling profanities, I don’t really have anything to worry about.

36. Not at my job, you’re pretty much good to go as long as you’re reasonably polite and respectful. I use a slightly more formal register around my boss/managers compared to my co-workers, but that’s about it.

37. You’re expected to be polite to everyone at work. If your boss expects bootlicking, they’re a terrible boss.

38. Your title sounds like very specialized square dance calls.

    Depends on the workplace. In general, my experience has been that my immediate supervisor/boss will generally be very cool, but that *they* answer to someone else who is typically 1) always in our workspace instead of whatever office they’re supposed to be in 2) supposed to be treated super formally and 3) an ass.

    Also, I will usually be informal around my boss, but not take any crap about my team when I’m somewhere else. (Like, back when I worked in a bank and got transferred for the day to cover an absence, I was *not* about to gossip about my coworkers. Even the ones I genuinely didn’t like. It was needlessly middle-school, and I said so.)

39. Generally speaking, No.

    There are some asshat bosses out there for sure, but they are the exception, not the norm. In general, the expected workplace behaviors are pretty similar to your country.

40. Lol no.

41. I expect everyone to maintain a level of professionalism.

42. No not really when I worked at Amazon I barely even saw my boss.
    Normally you just have to give the minimum amount of respect to your boss.