Temperament at Work

Management has become an independent field of knowledge having roots and branches with finite specialities. We have lately started to hear about management by targets, , human resources and quality management. Such appellations simply signify the importance of management and the genuine desire of people to make an industry concerned with laying out plans and goals before embarking on any involvement by seeking the council of experts and gurus during the execution phase to hit targets superbly.

A new term has been introduced  to us which is management by mood. Although such title was originally obscure, the chain of  obscurity soon broke down when reflecting  upon  the reality of management in a number of our establishments,  private and public institutions alike.

Egotism fetters some executives when these people become at the helm of our society believing  that the manager is the one who is omniscient knowing the alpha and omega of things and is flawless. This tendency is conspicuous when the manger presides over regular or extraordinary meetings to assess achievements.

The bloated ego is displayed in meetings when the executive starts talking and tailoring ready-made  judgements and assessments, sometimes irrational appraisals just to show how well-versed he is in all fields.

Such an executive can not stomach the opinions of others even though they were very much conversant with their turfs. Therefore, he is quite keen on gagging them and giving very little time to listen to their views or interpositions.

Excessive moody attitudes are manifested by favouring one employee over another, appointing or  distancing  him from a position,  simply shows that passion is the criteria irrespective of the circumstances of objective appraisals.

Unfortunately, flattery, hypocrisy and self-soaping play a detrimental role in management in such a case where the employee seeking promotion rubs shoulders to find  any cronyism to the manager in a bid  to grab a vacant position.

In such an atmosphere, being concerned about the place of work is the last thing to worry about because it is supplanted by a blind allegiance to the employer instead of doing the job satisfactorily.

This manner in conducting the work constitutes a gross deviation that affects the management and performance.  The presence of this kind of managers who boast similar traits, being encircled by sycophants and opportunists  praising the incumbent boss and censuring the outgoing one, would  only mean that the institution is going to pot along with management and staff.

Recalling the true image means that the manager, who is supposed to have got the position through qualifications and expertise, should fully concentrate his efforts on finding a new culture based on allegiance to the institution but not to the manager. This culture should rely on objective standards for appraisals untrammelled by reaction, mood and personal allegiance. Only when this culture is widely promulgated, we would be able to put the institutions on the right track to thrive.

This is exactly what we hope for our institutions and establishments especially those undergoing chronic administrative problems that need to be properly addressed.  

Firas Taleb

E.T by Mamoun Abdin