Soldiers Win Wars... Kings Take Credit

ACHILLES: The battle was won by soldiers. The soldiers know who fought.

AGAMEMNON: History remembers the kings, not the soldiers. Tomorrow we'll batter down the gates of Troy. I'll build monuments to victory on every island of Greece, and carve Agamemnon in the stone. My name will last forever. Your name is written in the sand, for the waves to wash away.

ACHILLES: First you need the victory.


That was from the movie, Troy, but it speaks the truth when applied to the office. Large companies recognize the managers and forget about the creative professionals who do all of the real work. It's the programmers, designers and writers that work hard, use their brains to solve problems and their skills to execute. When all of the dirty work is done, the manager is the one who gets recognized by upper management because he/she is good at speaking (but has no real skill attributes). It's then the manager who gets the awards, bonuses and pay increases. Some of these people go through the years without even giving credit to the soldiers. How can these people live with themselves?

I can't say that's true about all managers, but it's certainly the majority. There are those out there who give back to the soldiers. Those are the managers who gain the respect and loyalty of their followers.