It may be that the ultimate working nightmare would be to have two tough bosses. I mean, one tough boss alone you can handle - just keep that one account squared away and don't mess up.
Even having a string of bosses is not such a big deal - just juggle one against another, and that one against another one, and so on - then keep your head down.
But serving two masters, and two masters alone, who are watching you like hawks, and who often disagree - that's got to go down as one of life's major headaches. It's certainly not the kind of job I would want. But that's the kind of job Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has.
I don't envy him. He's soon to commence his second term in the service of a pair of competing masters. One is Hong Kong - meaning the special administrative region's people, evolving legislature and punchy news media. The other is Beijing.
With the 10th anniversary of this relatively new and wholly historic arrangement of 'one country, two systems' just around the corner, it seemed a good time to check in with the chief executive.
I found him psyched-up about the upcoming handover anniversary, though well aware that his Hong Kong has been through an intensive ride since 1997. 'We have had the Asian financial crisis, the collapse of our property market, the Asian flu, Sars [severe acute respiratory syndrome] - this was all a real test over uncharted waters. But we made it through it all, intact,' he told me.
His job is so much different from that of his masters up north, who have their news media under such firm control. By contrast Hong Kong's media has always proved to be uncontrollable, and probably always will be - at least I hope so. But Mr Tsang is not a physically large person, and is always seen with a small bow tie. I hope he doesn't get ground down: 'Of course, if you are on the receiving end of media criticism, you might feel that way!' he said.