Staircase of people

In the movie 300 the Persian King Xerxes had his servants create stairs out of their bodies to ease his descent.

What an abuse of power!

But who in Persia is going to stop him?

He ranks highest of them all and there’s no one there to keep him in check.

I can’t help but imagine the ripples this behaviour would create in today’s world.

Can you imagine if the CEO interrupted the interns’ lunch to rob poor little Timmy’s donut?

I reckon if it’s a fairly large sized company, the CEO most likely doesn’t know the names of half of their employees, if that.

But I believe without a shadow of a doubt that every employee will know who the CEO is.

The uninitiated are educated in hushed tones as the big cheese walks by.

And as unfair as it is to rest such responsibility on a single set of shoulders, the leader does influence the organisation’s culture quite a lot.

The top dog sets the tone, a tone that trickles down the food chain and seeps into every corner of the office.

Furthermore I hypothesise that a head baller who exercises their power regularly, by showing that the rules don’t apply to them, creates a culture of obedience and top down communication.

So to bring it back to Xerxes and his staircase made of humans, how could anyone offer a contradicting opinion when there are such casual displays of dominance that no doubt happen so frequently?