By now many have read or seen on the news the story about the Russian spies who have been here for decades. What is fascinating about this story is how in plain site they were. In the city of Cambridge neighbors were completely baffled when told they had two Russian spies among their mist. But that’s to be expected of Cambridge.
I suspect what surprises people the most is these alleged spies didn’t behave as we think spies should. They weren’t the suave debonair James Bond type we have imprinted in our consciousness. They looked and acted like everyday people. So when we read about their being captured and their supposedly spy activity it’s surprising to say the least.
As I follow this story, I find a similarity when workers come across a real manager. I mean most people have become so accustom to people who hold the title of manager but are anything but, when they meet or work for someone who is truly a manager it comes as complete surprise to them.
For many they work for managers who only know how to bark orders, take credit for other people’s work, complain about their superiors, and give their subordinates a hard time about everything. When approached with ideas on possible improvements, instead of embracing them, they respond with “that’s not how we do things here” or “you’re paid to perform not think.” Or they talk about accountability only when something goes wrong and are looking for someone to throw under the bus for their lack of oversight. When it comes time for doing people’s performance reviews, they are always late, remember only the mistakes, or can’t remember what the person did for the year.
Again it’s comes as a complete surprise when you work for someone who is completely opposite of the conventional manager many have come to work for. The type of managers I’m speaking of see their people as part of an overall team and it’s through them is that things get done.
They aren’t worried about who gets the credit because it’s truly a team effort. They take time to meet with all members of their staff, and listen to what they have to say and empower them to make reasonable changes of the work processes as long as they don’t impact performance negatively. Performance reviews are not only on time, but scheduled well in advance to allow for meaningful discussion. During this time there are no surprises it’s an honest and open dialogue about things you did well and the areas that require improvement along with straightforward suggestions on how you can improve.
When managers of this type suddenly appear on the scene it’s a complete surprise to everyone, it catches people completely off guard, conventional they’re not.
What’s even more amazing is the fact they are in our midst and people don’t know it. What a shame.
