The Office:

Michael Scott played by Steve Carell

"Don’t send an email on a Friday afternoon and expect a response and action ASAP."

"I don’t like frequent meetings; managers who do have nothing to do."

"If you receive an emergency call from home, just go; your family is more important than me."

"The world does not revolve around your job; don’t carry its weight upon your shoulders."

"If you have an urgent task, don’t rush it -- just expedite; rushing will jeopardize your work’s quality."

Kind and compassionate bosses are a rare breed these days. Not that they do not exist anymore, it is just that they are so rare most employees see them as folks to be feared rather than admired and respected (note, there is a big difference between respect and fear). Besides, the culture of hierarchy in many companies compel managers to command “respect” from their staff. Yet in fact, they are just eliciting fear and not respect in its real sense. I find it sad to hear people connote fear as the same with respect, but this is not supposed to be so (and I will deal with this in a separate occasion).In my many years traversing the professional sphere, I was fortunate to have had bosses who were compassionate, humane, and family-oriented. Not that I had no share of bosses who were a-holes, but in this write-up, I focus on the good guys and write about what they said that inspired me to be more human and alive. They made me realize that being a leader is not about exerting your authority all the time, but also making sure that you walk with your feet still on the ground. While your job may keep you away from getting hungry, it does not mean that your world should revolve around it -- there are other aspects of your life that are equally important if not more important.I have seen people get upset because they want their request to get proper and immediate action -- never mind if it is a weekend. The thing is, these people themselves do not want to be disturbed on weekends. They like other people work their way through their off days so they can get the output by Monday, yet they themselves willThis boss of mine who said quote #1 had taught me to respect people’s off-days and holidays.Managers set meetings to make sure the objectives are clear to the members of the team and to clarify assignments and manage expectations. They can be regularly done, but doing them too frequently is wasteful to company time. The time that should have been spent doing the tasks and achieving the goal is being spent on chit-chat because of frequent and lengthy meetings.Given the modern and hi-tech means of office communication, one can just shoot a message to the intended party and generate an action all at once. It is sad that sometimes meetings are not maximized to what it is supposed to be used for; it is instead abused to the point were those who have nothing to do can pretend that they are doing something.I sure hope that you know the reason why you work. You may say you that you have this ambition you need to fulfill or that you need to fill up those pockets of yours. The bottomline is you have (or going to have) a family to support. You work because of your loved ones.So do not let your ambition or youron what is truly significant in your life, unless you think family is of less importance than anything else you perceive to be.In your deathbed, it is not your officemates who will be there beside you -- it will be your family.It is a pity when people allow their jobs to take a toll on their health. They save their hard-earned money just to spend it later on hospitalization and medicines. It is sad that we see people succeeding in their careers only to find out that their family and emotional life is a wreck.There should always be a balance between career and your life -- that is the ideal. However, in the case that you are prompted to choose, then choose the one that will still be there when your work is done.Most people are agitated by tight deadlines, and that is normal. However, when you are focused more on finishing the task at hand, you tend to undermine the quality of what you are doing.This is why work timelines should not be stiff or too short; they should be planned ahead. Besides, most stress in the workplace are wrought because of tight and unrealistic deadlines.As a final note, we look up to leaders for direction and even inspiration. How lucky you are if you find such leader -- one who acts as mentor and motivator. Yet, in the end, you need to remember that they have their own lives to meddle with; outside of the workplace they are not responsible with how you conduct your life. Still, you are your own life's motivator and director.