Both good and bad managers have a lasting impact and they live in the memory of those who worked for them. With the arrival of 2011, I have been traveling through my own time archives thinking about those several individuals who impacted me on my career journey. This post is the tale of two different managers and the lessons they still teach these many years later. I will call them Kurt and John.
While I was in school, I worked for a large retail store chain. We had many employees there who worked different shifts. We were all hard working and we worked well together. Looking back, we were a very diverse group not only in the usual areas of race, gender, age, and national origin, but also in our communication and interaction styles. Despite our differences, there was one area of unanimous agreement among all of us. We hated working for Kurt and we liked working for John.
Kurt did not have favorites–he treated us all the same. He drove us like we were cattle, spent his time circulating the floor to let us know he was monitoring our work, and he gave us unrealistic production requirements. He verbally punished any mistakes and he only gave us instructions. We all needed our jobs so we worked hard to meet his many demands and avoid his emotionally charged verbal attacks. The only time he relaxed his tight control was when the district manager visited the store. For these weekly hourly visits, Kurt underwent a personality transformation becoming a cordial manager. Despite his style, Kurt got results and he was one of the most productive shift managers for the district. He was one of the top candidates for our vacant store manager position.
John did not have favorites either–he treated us all the same. He gave us realistic production requirements, trusted us to do our jobs (until shown differently), and he asked for our input as work issues arose. When mistakes occurred, his first step was to ask what occurred, work with us on resolution, and then hold us accountable for a better effort the next time. He expected us to get our work done and to do it correctly but he coached more than he directed. His behavior did not change when the district manager visited the store. Despite his style, John was also a productive shift manager for the district. His numbers were slightly below Kurt’s. John was also one of the top candidates for the vacant store manager position.
Kurt was the generally favored candidate by upper management to receive the store manager position. His promotion seemed a foregone conclusion until the unexpected happened. Specifically, one day a fatality occurred in our store that upset everyone. The cashiers who witnessed the incident were visibly shaken and some were crying. Those of us who worked in the warehouse were also stunned. After public safety personnel left the store and removed the body, we milled about for a short time trying to make sense out of what had just happened. Kurt circled the sales floor in his usual manner and then called us all together. I still remember my thoughts at the time. I knew Kurt was going to take charge of the situation, offer words of encouragement and send some of the more upset cashiers home (as they were in no position to work).
I was wrong, however. When Kurt did speak, we were stunned. He proceeded to verbally attack the cashiers for being so emotional and not serving the customers. He told the rest of us to clean up the mess and get back to work. He also told us that we had to have all of the day’s work done by our regular shift ending time. Clearly, Kurt was concerned about keeping his production record untarnished.
Kurt did get results that day–just not the ones he wanted. Some staff quit immediately and walked off the job and others later complained to district headquarters. Still, others insisted on working other schedules when Kurt was not in charge and everyone held him in contempt. Kurt’s promotion disappeared that day. Instead, John was later rewarded for his ability to get good results and also work effectively with employees.
There are sometimes when we should argue with results!
About the Author
Robert Tanner is the founder of the Management is a Journey Blog and Principal Consultant at Business Consulting Solutions LLC. He is a certified change management consultant, management mentor, trainer, and an Adjunct Professor of Management. Robert has a passion for helping managers and leaders fulfill their potential. Connect with Robert on Google+ and Twitter. To join the mailing list, subscribe here.
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