GCI Leadership Blog

The Toxic Manager
(06/24/2011)
Most managers are not comfortable with a simple truism that the current condition of any organization is direct reflection of leadership. In other words, managers are accountable for the current success or failure of the team. This epiphany is a rude awakening for some and a sad reality for others. The challenge faced by most aspiring leaders is the brutal accountability that accompanies autonomy. In other words, team performance is directly related to “who” is on the team and “how” they are managed. The wrong people certainly influence performance and this quantification of talent is the primary measure of success and failure. However, the most neglected performance indicator is the environment created by the manager for the team.
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The Learning Spotlight

The Wiggler, The Stickler, and The Hermit

By John Grubbs

Understanding the tendencies of managers can be very entertaining and humorous.  Learning to identify the common challenges faced by many managers can enlighten us to the point that we improve our own performance.  Labels can help us identify both the success and failure we all experience when assuming a leadership position within an organization.  As you read this, I encourage you to examine these labels for both intrinsic and extrinsic value.  In other words, do you sometimes exhibit behavior that can be indentified with each label?  Have you worked with others that fit these descriptions?

The wiggler is very common among managers.  They cannot seem to be “nailed down” to anything concrete.  There is no sense of value in an organization managed by the wiggler.  Every day seems to ebb and flow with each new challenge. 

Employees of the wiggler are very frustrated because decisions and behavior must be guessed daily.  There is no consistency of message or action.  The daily perspective changes and team members opt to do nothing until the wiggler makes a wiggle.  This isolating environment lacks leadership because the follower has no clue what direction to move. 

Wiggler organizations are very susceptible to “flavor of the month” programs that lack continuity with the organization as a whole.  Employees view each new program as another attempt to...

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Surviving The Talent Exodus  - The Book is now available - watch for the global release

January 1st, 2008 was an important date for the American workforce. It marked the date when tens of thousands of Baby Boomers began retiring from the workforce each year. Most organizations are not prepared for the coming perfect storm caused by this exodus, the relatively small numbers of Generation X to replace the leaving Baby Boomers, and the work attitudes of Generation Y. No business leader should be without the information provided in this book. Whether or not they are prepared for the shift currently occurring in the workforce, they will soon deal with a new reality. John Grubbs not only looks forward, he gives readers insights into what they can do today to prepare for the changes American business will struggle through in the coming years..

How are we going to motivate and lead this new generation of workers? How are we going to capture the vast knowledge from the baby boomers before they leave? How will the workplace change in the next 10 years? There are two types of companies: Those preparing for generation Y and those that will suffer because they did not! Will we see the end of the forty hour work week?  Don't miss this detailed examination of the future and the American workplace.