Two separate but similar conversations I recently had with people in two very different fields - education and financial services - crystallized for me a common management problem. For lack of a better term, I'd call the issue the prevalence of "Gotcha" management.
What do I mean by "Gotcha" management? There's a great line in The One Minute Manager where author Ken Blanchard talks about the power of catching someone "doing something right." Well, Gotcha management is pretty much the opposite.
"Gotcha with that one." "Gotcha there!" It's a management approach that focuses on catching your employees doing something - anything - wrong.
It's not really management in the true sense of the word. It's behavior that sometimes, probably far too often, passes for management, but on closer examination isn't management.
It's catching things that are wrong...it's finding errors... it's pointing out problems... it's management by mistakes.
To be sure, these are important elements of control, a core - and critical - management function. Without solid accountability, managers won't get the results they need. The door's wide open for employees to go off the rails.
But when a manager focuses singlemindedly on catching mistakes to the exclusion of most everything else, he or she in all likelihood is doing little in terms of planning, organizing and coaching. Not to mention leading.
For those who specialize in "Gotcha" management, the other side of the equation - what I'd call the engagement, motivation and productivity side - is ignored. There's an absence of meaningful leadership that inspires - that makes employees want to be committed and productive.
In a word, "Gotcha" management demoralizes. This was the situation with the two employees I mentioned at this post's outset. They're bright talented individuals who receive virtually no feedback or communication other than about mistakes that need fixing. The net effect? They'll both likely move on as soon as attractive opportunities present themselves. Which of course is a costly and unproductive outcome for management.
I suspect many of us who've been in the work force a while (and probably some who haven't been in that long) have had "Gotcha" managers in our day. I know I did. It's a common trap to fall into. It's tempting. It's easy. At times it's necessary. But it isn't really management.
Thoughts? I'm always interested to hear readers' opinions about what works and what doesn't in the workplace.
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Victor is author of The Type B Manager: Leading Successfully in a Type A World (Prentice Hall Press).
