Don't you know who I am? - disconnection anxieties

Don't you know who I am? I'm very important. If I am uncontactable then everything will stop. Everything! And you don't want to be responsible for everything stopping do you? That's why I need to keep my phone on. That's why I need to check my blackberry. Excuse me, I have to take this call. It's urgent.

Hi. Yes. Yes. On Tuesday. Only the second one. Yes. Look - I'm in a meeting. Bye.

Where was I?

The creation & maintenance of status is a critical survival skill in all organisations. Although you may fear that ultimately you are unimportant and expendable - that your life is as meaningless as everyone else's - there are ways of combating this. Of managing this.

1. Being constantly unavailable. They all want you. They can't have you. The longer you can keep this up, the more it will drive them crazy. But this approach has its dangers. What if they learn to live without you? So try:
2. Making a display of being unavailable - esp. with subordinates & peers. The less engaged & present you are, the more status you have. N.B. Do not try this with a superior unless they are weak. Combine this with:
3. Incessantly bombarding your subordinates with requests. Micromanage their work. Even some discreet surveillance might be useful here. They need to know they are being managed. They need to know who is in charge. Discipline & punish.

Silence can be terrifying.

What are you scared of?