Portraits of a manager

Managers, they come in all shapes and sizes. More importantly if they are to be a portrait on a corporate wall they’ll definitely resemble one or other beings or things around us. Here is a take on portraying the various managers from my experience of working with a bunch of them till date.

Microscope: This is a genre of managers who love to have a deeper sense of understanding of anything and everything that goes on with their team. They can’t stand being far off from the team and ensure that the team does not miss their presence at all during every course of action. It takes a lot of perseverance to continue working with these type of managers since you need to be at your best not just once, but forever! Though it could be quite demanding, you’ll possibly see the benefit of working with people like these in the long run.

Loud Speaker: The way these people talk! They talk and not just that, they ensure the world around them know when they talk. These are the managers who prefer to be quite loud with their words and actions that the people who work with them need to have an armour that could protect them from embarrassment each time they are with their bosses. It is not necessary that these are the bad guys, just that they love all the attention. There is also a possibility that you may have lots of fun with such bosses and may even end up like them someday.  

Robots: Process, process, process! Managers who absolutely stick to laid down processes can at times be taxing especially if you are not a process oriented person yourself. For the rest of them, your life with these people can be as good as driving a car blindfolded. You don’t have to worry about blind spots at all since these people will ensure that there are none. They usually love those who can be systematic and tend to develop a great sense of disappointment towards the rest who cannot follow a defined path.

Parents: These are specifically those managers who develop a parental affection towards you. These people, obviously are highly emotional beings. Working with them can only be in extremes, depending on the genetic nature of parenthood they inherited. It could either be the easiest person to work with or the most difficult one to please irrespective of your highest level of productivity. All is fair in love!

The Wall: Probably one of the most challenging among the portraits. These people can be absolutely a nightmare with the nature of being a wall where none of your thoughts or suggestions can penetrate them. They are born with a mind that cannot be tuned to understand the concept of listening. It may be best to find an alternate option if you have a strong personality yourself. Else God save you. 

Einstein: This is a bonus! To work with managers who are a constant source of innovative ideas is a blessing. Not something you are bound to get very often, but if you ever happened to work with one try not to lose them. As is the case with many good things, there can be a different side for this as well. All innovations do not always result in production. Hence some of the activities you’ll be involved will rarely see the light of the day. Nevertheless one thing is always guaranteed. You’ll never have a boring day at work!

Gladiator: You should be truly luck to work with someone like this. They’ll die for you! These are the managers who knows your true potential and will go to any extend to ensure that the world around sits and notices you as well. They are the true blue genre of managers who deeply appreciate your capabilities and values your presence as a team member for eternity.

The Fox: The name itself says it. Probably the type of managers you need to be really careful with. These are the ones who don’t mean what they say. If you are too naïve you won’t survive them for long. Learn to tackle them and that’s your only means for existence.

The list is endless. There are many more portraits of managers that we can draw and hang on the wall. We see them all around us every other day.

So what’s the portrait that you want to paint?