We will have to create a tutorial so that the boss understands what it is about in his service. As in a dissipated classroom, ideas fuse on personal messaging to make fun of the ignoramus who occupies the highest hierarchical stratum. However, a few months ago, it was a pro from pro who masterfully managed this technical service. Nobody disputed it. But he left and… why did the boss put this incompetent as chief? “The leaders are found in the best places. Nickel. The others are Saint-Maur Châteauroux Palace. No more sky”, was in despair Souchon who had understood everything. “The bad attitude is to complain because it’s not our responsibility to change managers. It’s not a button to press”, retorts Stéphane Malochet, co-author of the book “Et si j’apprivoisais my boss? Protect yourself from toxic management, instructions for use” (Eyrolles, 2012).
“Our gaze is only a gaze”
“We are in an ecosystem with feedback from team members that counts. All employees can evaluate their manager, it makes sense… but it is not in their basic function to award stars” , continues Stéphane Malochet, coach since 2003. A manager is neither a restaurant nor an app and even if the rating system has virtues, (noting someone who had knowledge was totally unimaginable a few decades ago) , what is the point of judging when you don’t have all the parameters? The question of the “zero” manager is not uncommon for this expert: it often arises for people who are “super sharp in their field”, who do not understand that their competence is not reflected in their hierarchy. It is often young employees in the digital sector who snipe without detail. Stéphane Malochet proposes a reflection in three stages with first a quick introspection: “our gaze is only a gaze. A hyperspecialist does not include the entire spectrum”. You have to put your own judgment into perspective even if you have accumulated diplomas. We control one aspect of the chain, but the manager has a more macro vision. Second step: add a pinch – or a handful, or a truckload – of benevolence towards this manager and accept the disturbing difference. Thirdly, it is important to take an interest in the particularities of this hierarchy, to discover its skills and to see how they can be beneficial for a service. If this non-specialist tries to smooth things over and doesn’t steal the show from the specialists, he already has two qualities. If it encourages initiatives, that makes it a third. “Ask yourself the question of the raison d’être and the presence of the manager because his competence may go beyond your own prism”. This also helps to understand the operation of the company and its networks. For the most curious, we can get an in vivo training by watching the minus habens become a maestro, in order to see how he took possession of his position and how he defends it.
Reassure and facilitate the task
The reflection of Yann Nabusset, founder of Amalo, is close: “there is no one… and no one! What are we talking about?” He suggests taking a step back and forcing yourself to analyze. If he is indeed a “zero”, understand the reasons which pushed his hierarchy to install him on this seat: a “politician”, essential to the workings of the company? A protege from the boss? You have to find a way to work with it, to find out how it works. Then there is the “dummy” who lives with the micromanagement screwed to the body. “We meet a lot of them at the moment”, indicates the DG of Amalo. They are either juniors or new managers who have reached this level by sheer force. All want to do well and lock everything. There is also the economic crisis which, in large structures, is pushing for “very contextual” micromanagement methods: cascading validations, ad nauseam reporting and exhausting Excel tables. “We must reassure these managers and make their job easier by showing them that the work is done and that the files are taken in hand”. The palette of dummies is impressive, there are dummies everywhere. One of the worst is “the old man” whose experience leads him to believe he knows everything. Relieving him of the things that annoy him becomes an asset to make him his ally so that he can shine. Final recommendations: never leave before having tried everything… and never crash, because playing with weaknesses and strengths is much more stimulating!