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How to be a leader when the vibes are off

chaoticgood.management

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Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#171

Post by hluska »

atoav wrote: post #146
scott_w wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what is your expert advice? A manager runs their mouth off publicly, gets fired/made redundant, and gets replaced with a manager who does buy into the company line? What concrete differences in behaviour would you expect to see?

A good manager gets in a fight with their superior(s) if their superior happens to be wrong. A bad manager will avoid conflict with their superior, nod too unrealistic demands and then badmouth the superior with their team. A catastrophic manager will actively push unrealistic plans towards their superior. For me the main difference between a good and a bad manager is that the good manager is interested in delivering…

People get fired doing this. If you’re in a position where you can be fired maybe that’s okay. But you have no way of knowing what your team is getting next. They can all be next out the door if you play this hand wrong.

The writer did a very poor job of explaining how to do this. I question how much experience they have writing. But actual diplomacy is necessary in systems like this.

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#172

Post by eumenides1 »

mfru wrote: post #134

This reads like "How to follow orders and resignate". Only shows that companies are dictatorships where workers don't have a say

The article says in many more words, "pick your battles". You can't manage when you aren't the manager. Getting fired/laid off won't get you the results.

Pressure is being exerted from above, you bend (lax enforcement) and bounce back (suggest to higher ups better policies) when the time is appropriate.

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#173

Post by codyb »

mfru wrote: post #134

This reads like "How to follow orders and resignate". Only shows that companies are dictatorships where workers don't have a say

Did you think your company wasn't top down?

The American model of hierarchical with input which combines the top down structure of many societies with the flatter get input until agreement model of others has been pretty effective all in all.

I think shareholders get a say (in private companies that's the owner), you get a salary and benefits (maybe some shares giving you some say) (and hopefully some workers protections and unionization opportunities) and the issue right now is that the wealthy control a staggering number of the shares giving them huge, outsized impacts on regular people's lives.

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#175

Post by secondcoming »

gdbsjjdn wrote: post #157
InvOfSmallC wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with her manager. She needs to preserve her health. Involving HR doesn't mean the manager is not with her.

It's not a case of the manager not supporting her, it's a case of the manager putting something that could have been informal - "I'm happy with your performance and if you need to take some breaks during the workday I support it" - and made it a formal thing that is risking getting her fired. The manager in question has admitted they fucked up and didn't realize how much HR would try to force my friend out for being…

I don't agree. There's nothing 'informal' about someone under you telling you they're suffering from burnout. It's not a water cooler topic of conversation. Legally, going to HR was the correct thing to do.

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#176

Post by [deleted] »

doodaddy wrote: post #18

Even as a jaded person I’m surprised how many people read this and immediately go to statements about hypocrisy, having no integrity, or bad leadership. Get a grip! Real life doesn’t always let you be a crusader. It’s called choosing your battles and it’s something that most of us have to do almost every day. Nothing in this advice suggests being two-faced. Nothing suggests lying or being deceitful. What it does sugg…

[deleted]

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#177

Post by mfru »

tomp wrote: post #168
threetonesun wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're making odd analogies to politics I think most high performing teams tend to end up in the Marxist "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". Or instead of the military, think of a basketball team. How do five excellent athletes work together. The coach is not a "dictator", nor is anyone on the team, but they also don't vote on plays. They know what each other is good at and, based…

Marxism is amazing as long as you get to freely choose who to share the spoils with. In fact, this idea is so amazing, we should create a new political philosophy around it! How should we call it? Share-ism? Freedom-ism? Or, maybe just Capital-ism?

Let's just call it Communism and have it.

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#178

Post by cindyllm »

alex-moon wrote: post #135

This is depressing to be sure, but rest assured there is a long history of middle management being "the buffer" between upper management and everyone else. It's a common trope in TV shows and such. I think one of the most important things this write up is maybe missing (though I am not super clear on how this has changed recently) is when middle management are acknowledging to their reports that the C suite are a bun…

[dead]

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#179

Post by scott_w »

oytis wrote: post #160
scott_w wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what is your expert advice? A manager runs their mouth off publicly, gets fired/made redundant, and gets replaced with a manager who does buy into the company line? What concrete differences in behaviour would you expect to see?

Ideally if a manager cannot stand behind what the company is doing barring minor or temporary disagreements, they leave. That's what I've seen the best managers doing before - not sure how it works in the current market though

Most of us aren't working for IBM building counting machines for the Nazis. We're talking about a situation where you think the company is making bad decisions, not one where you have an ideological disagreement.

If a manager isn't able to function in this environment then, frankly, I'm not sure that person is cut out to be a leader or manager...

Re: How to be a leader when the vibes are off

#180

Post by apercu »

motorest wrote: post #32
apercu wrote: post #17

The capital class didn't like the power employees had during covid. They hated pretending that they care about employee health or well-being. So now they are vindictively sticking it to everyone. This phase, too, will pass. AI (LLM's) is like cloud - the promise of lowered costs to incentivize organizations to migrate, then a few years later your business is paying double what your Colo and skeleton IT costed. AI wil…

> AI (LLM's) is like cloud - the promise of lowered costs to incentivize organizations to migrate, then a few years later your business is paying double what your Colo and skeleton IT costed. There's some ignorance in this comment, which turns your comment into a pointless jab at pet peeves. I'll explain you why. The value proposition of cloud providers for business perspectives is a) turning capex into open, b) lowe…

Cool story bro.
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