Old Way – New Way – No Way! Change is ubiquitous, especially in the course of digitization, and often depends on the approval of a manager. But what if the manager would rather maintain the status quo and that in every area too!
Some executives are inventory keepers
A custodian is a manager who shows a very high degree of persistence in times of change. Unfortunately, many managers avoid changes that do not come from them.
At the top of teams and companies there are often exceptional talents who are more efficient and more assertive than competitors. They are people who are extremely quick in absorbing, structuring, analyzing and processing information and who make decisive decisions. As a result, you have a high level of self-confidence and often only trust yourself in many decisions and thus avoid changes that do not come from you. Which is actually a misunderstanding, as I can say from my own experience that new opportunities for promotions in organizations can only arise for talents through change.
A second point is also that managers have long been successful with their methods and like to try to solve the problems of the future with methods from the past.
Termination of managers
Especially in Corona, nobody has a job guarantee anymore. The crisis in particular demands changes and doers again. People who switch the status quo from growth to crisis mode. But not every manager recognizes this risk and also the danger to their own workplace. Supervisory boards or top managers observe such behavior for a while – but then they usually only act after some time and under certain distress like falling sales.
But how can you tell whether the manager’s chair is wobbling or not? The first thing you notice in day-to-day business is how other managers or direct superiors avoid the manager. The relationship cools down, becomes more neutral and more distant. Information becomes sparse and you can tell that the manager is visibly nervous and even lapses into actionism.
Next, such managers are isolated from other departments and when making important decisions. Managers notice this very quickly and suppress it or fall into actionism. I notice both behaviors depending on the character.
Negative feedback is coming
As soon as it becomes acute and an escalation against the manager starts, negative feedback also accumulates. Complaints from colleagues are also increasing. Reasons are sought to terminate the manager. I often experience that there is hardly any personal conversation here, but that people simply work in the background. The level of management is higher. You don’t get any feedback, you should get it yourself or just do a good job.
Now a tough phase begins for the employees. There is defiance! Some managers feel inviolable and invulnerable. They believe they are winning and start a real war. The stock must be preserved! For me, as a good manager, you always have to have a feel for the mood in your own department and the top manager.
Another problem is that managers like to say: I’ll go then! I have a lot of offers. But you then quickly realize that you cannot get a comparable job with this power in the market and you become more than nervous. The reason is that these have become a bit leisurely over the years and changes are no longer actively involved and are therefore not modern and fresh enough for the market.
Conclusion
As a manager, you should have a feel for which changes you are making and which are not. Especially in times of Corona, many levers will have to be changed. Do not be the blocker that hinders the organization and frustrates employees. Find the balance between change and existence. To do this, you should reflect on yourself regularly and also question your own character. I am currently doing a study on this, which will soon be evaluated on the blog. The survey runs from May to August and can be found here.
Update: This is currently before publication in the magazine for Organizational development . I think it will be released around September.
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