MC75 Why Does Management Have a Bad Name?

Pilar and Tim tackle the thorny question of why the term "management" often has negative connotations.

A single negative experience with a manager can completely sour an employee's view, even if that manager is generally competent. A manager might have to do 10 extraordinary things to make up for one mistake in the eyes of their reports. With managers wielding power over things like compensation and job security that are deeply personal, the stakes are high.

People often get promoted into management roles without adequate training, support or fit for the position. They may be great individual contributors but struggle with the complex interpersonal dynamics of leading a team. And the company environment and culture plays a huge role in setting managers up for success or failure as well.

Pilar and Tim also discussed how employees often carry "baggage" and scars from prior bad management experiences to their new roles. This colours their perceptions and makes them enter the employee-manager relationship already on guard. More transparency and explicit discussions of expectations on both sides could help reset things - what is often known as “managing the psychological contract”.

There are also systemic and societal issues at play. The profit-driven nature of many companies leads to seeing employees as expendable resources rather than humans. The recent waves of mass layoffs in tech, often rewarded by Wall Street, reflects this.

While Tim and Pilar don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, they agree that truly toxic managers are enabled by broken organisational cultures. At the same time, many of the issues stem from variety incompetence rather than malice. It's a demanding job that requires constant effort.

So given all the challenges, why aren't more companies experimenting with flatter, self-managed structures? When push comes to shove, most employees appreciate having a manager to handle certain thorny issues, even if they don't envy the role.

Tim and Pilar want to extend a note of appreciation to all the managers out there fighting the good fight and working to be the best leaders they can be for their teams. Changing perceptions will be an uphill battle, but recognising the issues is an important first step. With more dialogue and intentional effort to create healthy manager-employee dynamics, we can hopefully start to turn the tide.

For a timed set of show notes, head over to Management Café’s blog site.