Is it really true that one cannot grow ahead of his boss? In the current Indian Industry scenario - this statement seems to hold true. There seems to be a subconscious psychological barrier that these managers still struggle to cross while evaluating the subordinate. There is a constant fear in back of the bosses' minds what if my subordinate will become my peer and what if he crosses over?
To certain extent the performance review and contenders are also responsible for this trend. One's boss is normally the one who will give the final feedback to him. There is a high chance that the feedback is tweaked to align it with the manager's attitude towards the growth of an individual. This could continue as long as the manager will grow up in the ladder making some space for other's grow.
It is human nature to turn averse to such adverse / tough situations. In some cases some people have self esteem so high to take pride in seeing people worked under him grow to become their boss and attribute to subordinate's ability and hard work. In most of the cases - as long as the reportees grow up the ladder away from the manager's sight, it is fine. It doesn't matter. Else, it will possibly become a matter of ego. The higher the rank the bigger the ego. That's why this would be a good and active contributing reason to ever increasing attrition rate in IT Software industry.
As it appears, organic growth model seldom works in the age of competition. Let's hope that the model in the industry and psychology of those who form part of it changes sooner than later instead of falling in perils to the quotient of ego.
