I've been reading some pretty scary studies about management lately. Studies showing that nationally around 70% of employees are disengaged, with resulting lost annual productivity of more than $450 billion. Studies showing a frightening amount of disinterest - even in the managerial ranks - with one recent survey indicating that 51% of managers have "checked out" and care little about their jobs. Against this backdrop of widespread apathy, one begins to wonder about the overall vitality of management. I just feel I have to ask the question: Might you have a zombie boss?
What are the characteristics of a zombie boss? Let's put some flesh on these managerial bones.
No verbal communication: Speaking with employees, communicating, understanding what employees want and need... none of these are high on their list of priorities. Their natural state is silence. You often wonder what thoughts, if any, are coursing through their brains.
Robotic in their responses: To the extent there's any actual two-way communication, it feels robotic, mechanical, almost lifeless. New ideas are routinely snuffed out with a barely audible, "This is the way we've always done it here..."
Control by fear and menace: Minimal leadership is demonstrated, and equally little organizing or planning. To the extent they have interest in any of the classic managerial functions, it's control - and control accomplished by a sense of fear and menace. Their employees aren't motivated by enthusiasm for the job or company, but by an acute sense of dread when projects go awry. It's management by fear, a practice sometimes effective in the short term but not sustainable for the long term.
Impossible to do away with: And speaking of the long term...zombie managers are distinguished by their longevity. Even if their age is hard to judge, they've been with the company seemingly forever. They're impossible to do away with. Undeterred by previous disasters, they remain in the role. Employees hopeful for a change in management don't know how they do it. You'd think they'd have been long gone long ago, but somehow they survive. Against all odds, they keep coming back.
How do zombie bosses last so long?
It's a management mystery.
Perhaps, as the old corporate saying goes, they just know where the bodies are buried.
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Victor is author of The Type B Manager: Leading Successfully in a Type A World (Prentice Hall Press).
