Are You A Seagull Manager?

I had never heard this phrase before an employee used it to describe the management style of his boss. “He swoops in, craps all over everything, and then takes off,” the man said, shaking his head. I laughed, but also saw the bitter truth in the description.

There are many successful management styles, and many more that don’t work. In this case, the boss tended to be a big picture thinker (a vitally important trait for a leader) but once an idea was formulated or a decision made, he would hand it off to others to make happen. Now if he’d just leave them alone to implement, things would have been very different. Unfortunately, his tendency would be to come back and express his disappointment that things weren’t further along or that the project hadn’t been sufficiently well fleshed out. Because details weren’t his strong suit, he rarely understood the time-consuming nature of his requests and was consistently disappointed by his employees’ performance. They, on the other hand, were tempted to find places to hide when he came around, and lived in a constant state of agitated anticipation at what the next great idea would be.

Concepts people are important to any company. Details people are important to any company. Imbalance occurs when personnel tend to forget that the best projects consist of great ideas supported by details and follow-through. If you’re a global thinker, consult with your implementers before launching off on a new project. Get their input with regard to how much additional time from them it will take. If you’re a details person, remember that new ideas are the lifeblood of any company, and routine, no matter how perfectly carried out, can mean stagnation and decline. Seek input from people in the company who think differently from you; maintain an open attitude about new ideas and welcome innovation.