I have been in the same industry for nearly 20 years reaching the level of Regional District Manager position. Due to economy the division I was running was closed along with other corprate changes my team of 25 and about half of the production and office staff where also let go. After 3 months I secured a position at a significant cut in pay and have no supervisor duties. While I continue to explore other oppertunities I am constantly running into uneffective management in my department. I have in the past gave my boss and my supervisor leading questions to test if we where on the same channel however they are not even tuned in!
- Should I just keep it to myself and get out asap
- Be more direct about my concerns and present my ideas to my boss
- Go up the chain and express my thought to her boss
Budman825
Do not manage your boss
You can not change your boss this way. Just do your part of the work effectively, and some of it may radiate up.
Be world class where you are.
Budman,
I recommend none of the alternatives you present. Resolve to do a world class job where you are. Your professionalism and model behavior will show .
Rob's comments above are also correct. When you do a great job, others will ask for your advice and counsel. Influence by way of being a positive example is a form of leadership. You may also consider reviewing the following podcasts:
http://www.manager-tools.com/2007/11/how-to-be-persuasive-in-a-presenta…
http://www.manager-tools.com/2007/11/how-to-be-persuasive-in-a-presenta…
A hidden gem in the casts cover how to influence *effectively* based on your current role and relationship to others in your new position.
Best of good fortune to you. Hang in there.
Employing ex-managers
Hi Budman
I shall refrain from giving you any advice. However, I would issue this note of caution: I have been a manager involved with recruiting for 17 years and my experience has been that I find that the new recruits that find it the most difficult to accept their position in a team are ex-managers. Every one has found it necessary to question almost every decision and system of work they are presented with. In fact they are so much harder to work with that I now have an absolute policy of not employing ex-managers for non-managerial roles. I am sure that there are many that think that this is an unfair position to take. However, I am not paid to be fair, I am paid to make decisions that are in the best interests of the company I am working for. My time is not best spent having to continually justify all of my decisions to directs or, indeed, having to re-recruit if any insist on questioning any/every request that is made of them even after extensive discussions on how to deliver the best effort within a team.
Being more direct about your concerns and presenting your ideas to your boss could be seen by them as a slur on her capabilities – which would not go down well.
Going up the chain and expressing your thoughts to her boss could be seen as a slur on her boss’ ability to manager her directs – which also would not go down well.
As I said, I shall refrain from giving you any advice. Suffice to say that not all managers are happy to receive gratuitous advice in all circumstances.
FFF
Budman,
I understand your feeling of frustration. I've felt the same with people higher up the food chain that appear to have styles that directly contradict the MT values of building relationships through trust and communication. What I've found is, it's most effective to demonstrate complete command of the role I've been assigned. Once the respect for my performance has been established I've found I can create a tiny chink of an opening by using a Hot Wash meeting to demonstrate my ability to view the process and people, and not just the tasks.
Good luck,
Michael