The boss is always right

It was in 1502 that the egoistic mayor of Florence (Italy) Piero Soderini was under great pressure. He had appointed a novice to work on a giant piece of beautiful marble to make a sculpture under his guidance. Typical of many bosses Soderini had overestimated his own capabilities and by drilling a big hole in the middle of the block of marble Soderini and the novice had ruined it.

Soderini had to find a solution, and  finally commissioned Michelangelo to do a sculpture . Michelangelo agreed and using the available shape decided to sculpt a young David with a sling in his hand.

A few weeks later as the statue was finished, Soderini came to see the sculpture for himself. Soderini was pleased with what he saw. However like many patrons and bosses Soderini had to impose his ideas and have the last word. Soderini instructed Michelangelo to change the shape of the nose because it was too big.

Michelangelo grasped the situation immediately realising that Soderini was making this statement because of the position in which the latter stood in front of the statue. Nevertheless Michelangelo after a studied while nodded to Soderini his agreement. He climbed up the scaffold and on reaching the face picked up his chisel and hammer  and very discretely some marble dust in his fist. He went to the nose and appeared to start tapping his chisel at the nose while letting the collected marble dust slowly fall from his fist.

After a while of this charade Michelangelo moved Soderini to a vantage point to admire the statue and asked for an opinion from his patron. After a few minutes of examination Soderini congratulated Michelangelo for making a great improvement and in a voice filled with admiration said; “ I love it, you have made it come alive.”

All were pleased and everyone lived happily ever after.


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Without any fuss, or compromise on the quality of his work Michelangelo provided Soderini the right and positive perspective thus appeasing Soderini and satiating his ego.

Though there are countless Soderins in the world there are comparatively few Michelangelos.

• Manage, persuade and convince the boss, but never try to impose on the customer or the boss. The interaction is almost always unpleasant and the price heavy. (Boss can sometimes include a parent or spouse)  
• The boss will inevitably look down upon an argument but always looks up to facts, and results.