Thoughts on Management-Supervision

I like to think of myself as a well rounded individual in many respects.  My education afforded me the opportunity to be immersed in many fields, chemistry (P chem., quant, biochem), physics, math, biology, microbiology, economics, accounting to name a few.  Also, I did take a few other courses such as German, French, philosophy, botany that were not part of my undergraduate degree, but I enrolled in the classes just for the sake of satiating my curiosity.  I might be going about this in a rather awkward manner in attempting to present an idea that, for some of you, might be off the wall but I think that my background may shed some light on this insight.  The current concept of management/supervision must be looked at from a different perspective.  Can anyone become a manager?  Can you teach/instill management skills on/to anyone?  Does an MBA certify you as a competent manager?  From my perspective the answer to all these questions is an emphatic NO.  Now, I might be a bit harsh in this assessment but I will take you on a trip in trying to explicate my reason for stating it so directly.

I’ve noticed throughout my lifetime that people will naturally gravitate to someone that has the innate skill to tell a story, weave the intricacies of a tale, or deliver a joke with just the right punch line.  I think we all know these types of people; they have the gift of gab, can be genuinely interesting, and are amicable and approachable.  On a tangent, this intrinsic skill may be environmental or genetic or a combination, but this is for another discussion.  Nevertheless, this skill learned/acquired/born with provides a person with a quality that is essential for a manager–the ability to verbalize thoughts as well exuding a sense of comfort.  Most people would much rather have managers that you can approach, talk to, and perhaps, this is very important, feel at ease with.  In my opinion, these natural skills cannot be taught.  Alright, you might disagree with me and say that manners, empathy, and sympathy can be taught; again, this fodder for another discussion.  No matter how much schooling you have you will revert to your old self.  With this statement I am referring to those managers that have been schooled in how to be, act, and whistle like a manager but these learned skills are not sufficient to make you a true manager.  OK, I am going off on another tangent but be patient.  Here, I am talking about that manager that just received their evaluation not from their peers but from those they supervise.  It can be a shock to many a supervisor/manager to be have to go through such a performance appraisal.  They’ll schedule a meeting with fellow employees and state that you’ll be making changes to be a better manager.   But this lasts for a couple of months, inexorably, they revert to their old ways; those ways they feel comfortable with.  On the extreme side, there are those managers (it appears that they all go to the same school) that have learned these managerial skills.  Firm handshake, pat you on the back, take the time to remember your name (and they make a point of it), attempt to interact and to make personal conversations-How are you today? Noticed that you …Their people skills are very plastic and not genuine and are just playing the parts they learned in some far off school.  Dang it, I would really like to know where they go to learn these artificial skills.

Ok, so I’ve introduced some basic skills necessary for a manager.  But is this enough?  The answer is probably no; which brings me to a very important aspect of who gets drawn instinctively to a managerial position.  There was a study done recently by Amy B. Brunell, et al, “Leader Emergence: The Case of the Narcissistic Leader”, Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., 15 Sept 08–that attempts to associate narcissism and the emergence of a leader in a leaderless group.  It is an interesting study in many respects in that it presents the skills of a narcissist and how these skills endow such a person to rise through the ranks to reach management/supervisory level.  “The interest in narcissism, in part, reflects the apparent contradiction in narcissists as leaders. On one hand, narcissists appear prevalent in leadership roles, such as presidents and chief executive officers (Deluga, 1997; Maccoby, 2000; Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006; Wasylyshyn, 2005). On the other hand, the quantitative research on narcissists as leaders suggests that they increase the risk for a host of negative consequences, both for themselves and their organizations (Hogan & Hogan, 2001). For example, narcissism is associated with poor performance ratings from supervisors (Blair, Hoffman, & Helland, 2006), volatile and risky decision making and performance (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2006), counterproductive workplace behavior (Judge, LePine, & Rich, 2006; Penney & Spector, 2002), lower contextual performance (Judge et al., 2006), lower peer likability in social organizations (Harms, Wood, & Roberts, 2006), resource destruction (Campbell, Bush, Brunell, & Shelton, 2005), and even white-collar crime (Blickle, Schlegel, Fassbender, & Klein, 2006).”  This quote was taken from the study to present some of the aspects associated with narcissists.  Alright, so the chances that a narcissist will rise to the top are greater than someone else due to some of the native skills that I’ve outlined.  In addition, a narcissist will surround themselves with, you guessed it–they will need “Yes” people to resound their supreme skills.  Narcissistic people have an ulterior motive to everything they do and that is promoting themselves.  What is good for the agency may not be good for the narcissistic leader or as has been stated in the quoted paragraph, what may be good for the agency may not be good for the narcissistic leader.

Wow, people skills in a manager can be a two-edged sword.  It can be a truly wonderful gift but it can attract people that are just not fit for the job, or at least, not fit to lead for the right reasons. Would you be able to discern whether a manager has narcissistic tendencies or whether their management skills are truly honorable?