IN 1980, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) published an essay by Professors John J Gabarro and John P Kotter from Harvard Business School, titled Managing Your Boss. More than two decades later, in 2005, the same essay was published on HBR’s website.

In more recent times, a certain struggling employee – such as yours truly – would find a copy of it in hand, courtesy of a work mentor.

“Have I shared this with you before?” he asked, on the back of yet another unhappy workplace incident I shared with him.