There’s a lot of bad advice out there that really gets under my skin. The kind of meaningless-at-best or destructive-at-worst advice that people buy into, soak up and pass around like currency.* While I notice quite a bit of it in my field and in the “self-help” field in general, it really seems to come on full force in the world of business.
Take a recent blog post, Managing Older Managers: A Guide for Younger Bosses, published recently by the Harvard Business Review. Here’s an excerpt:
“Send emails early and late. Invite meetings on weekends and at odd hours. Be in the office or online all the time. Dial into meetings at insane hours during overseas travel. Understand that managers older than yourself may have families that require them to live by different rhythms from yours — they may need to be offline from 6 to 8, for example.”
I invite you to read – nay, skim! – the rest of the article. On a recent LinkedIn discussion, here’s what I had to say about the author’s advice:
As I read it, what the author suggests here has very little to do with younger bosses managing older employees; it mostly seems like it’s his take on management in general. My experience working with multiple generations throughout organizations suggests that very little has to do with age, other than some preferred methods of communication, but not always that, either.
In terms of his approach to management, I actually disagree with much of what he posits, especially around his comments in “Let them know that you are working long and hard.” While I think the basic premise might be valuable, the idea that a younger employee should essentially put on a show to demonstrate work ethic to the tune of being “online all the time” or scheduling weekend meetings, is counter-intuitive to my understanding of good management and, more importantly, good leadership. In my opinion, that and other suggestions border on crazy-making and deceit.
As a rule, I tend toward a more collaborative approach to management, which requires explicit communication, and he is clearly immersed in and advocating for hierarchy, where implicitness rules the day.
Whether you agree or disagree, I’d love to know your thoughts!
* There’s also this part of me that wants to hedge. That wants to say, “To each his own.” There’s merit to that as I certainly don’t wish to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And of course, I’m sure I, too, have unwittingly offered something meaningless or offensive at one time or another.
Tags: business, communication, integrity, leadership, power, time management
I realize this is only loosely correlated to what you’ve written, but I just came across it this morning and it seems apropos for me to pass the link to you: http://tylertervooren.com/advancedriskology/one-rule-before-breaking-all-the-rules/
The point of it is for the worker bee to change the rules to fit him or her, but it goes into making your hours at work count and not just showing up for the time allotted just to be present. In general (ha!), I dislike generalizations and assumptions based on working with multiple generations in a workplace. Really, it’s more individual styles than age groups which always require a bit more work and honest communication – at least to have the workplace functioning well. Thanks for bringing up a good point and pointing out the suggestions to avoid!
i agree with you completely; working long and hard doesn’t really matter if you’re not producing good results. i know many people that work 8-5 and accomplish more than the stay-late and work-weekends type (myself incl, i am out by 5:01!).
I totally agree. I find that people in my office have a hard time disconnecting from work and they become ineffective as either employees or managers – often leading to unnecessary stress on the entire work environment. I feel the need to have balance – leave work problems at work (which can be difficult) and leave home at home.
Nicole – great blog post you shared! Thank you. I definitely think it’s about making your hours at work count. Most of us could spend half our days screwing around online and still complete our tasks.
Val – good for you for getting out of there on time! I know it also means you have more time with Dan and the dogs and to cook.
Shannon – great point. I think that burnout is such a problem and when you don’t have boundaries at work, it just creates a whole new level of absolutely unnecessary stress. Boo!