Are You A ‘Rambo-Style’ Manager?
I don’t have a starry-eyed view of why we changed. If we could have continued to run our business the old and still make money we’d have been much happier doing so. - Starkley
Change may be identified as the catalyst that drives industries in today’s world, the endless crusade to alter and improve organizations.
Change may bring loss of meaning and purpose, confusing and fear, it can alter employee’s roles and relationships, creating chaos and interpersonal conflict.
Change in organizations is becoming increasingly demanding, covering areas of innovation, product and service quality, using change as a tool to differentiate and create competitive advantage.
A company’s programme of change depends entirely on employees and with the constant stream of proposed changes there is apprehension that the management of change may be seen as unnecessary.
Communication
– in organisations usually occurs top-down, meaning from senior management to subordinates. In an ideal world, the MD/CEO disseminates information in small, easily understood quantities to the workforce. You likely will understand that communication is about conveying an idea to another person and ensuring the idea is received and understood – a two-way process. However the way communication is usually perceived, leads to many difficulties.
Leadership
– is about unlocking individuals potential, where effective management leads to flexibility, structure, encouragement, innovation an empowerment. Within a change situation leadership may not be that simple, usually it becomes a ‘Rambo (telling) style’, this is what you do, this is when you do it, this is how you do it, get on with it attitude.
I don’t mind admitting I was a “Rambo-style” manager – I have changed my own style because I have seen that it is not the most successful way. – Author unknown
Decision making
– is a negotiation process, where decisions can emerge through interaction. I believe that decisions are generally made in conflict in change programme’s, while people feel there is a need to support a certain decision, in case of reprisal.
Motivation
– is viewed differently by people. Everyone can be motivated, but people have varied reasons to be motivated, if you take Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
If employees are ‘punished’ when a problem arises or a mistake is made, it will create a high resentment level and a pretty hostile employee environment, destroying the ‘safety’ and the little motivation that is there. This is called ‘negative reinforcement’, whereas positive reinforcement brings motivation and an enhancement of your employee’s self image.
Stress occurs when people are unable to eliminate negative feelings. This however has almost become avoidable in today’s society. Stress is an individual factor and some people may be able to cope with change better than others.
We love this quote by Blanchard,
When people do something good, their managers don’t say anything. When they make a mistake, they hear about it right away…I call this ‘seagull management’…Seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, and then fly out.
Management of change involves careful planning, with the use of change factors and techniques. It is recommended that before implementing change, certain plans and techniques should always be applied to make the transition as smooth as possible. Management should imagine the way employees may feel and ask their opinions as part of the decision-making process….noise, dump on everyone, and then fly out”.
Where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the change of incidents, chaos will soon reign. – Author unknown
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