#426  from Innovative Leader Volume 8, Number 9          September 1999

FORUM—from our readers

Got An Ego Problem?

The department that I’ve been working in the last eleven years, has been functioning very well.  Our director has a personality that got everyone together, and we all wanted to do the very best for her.  A year ago, she left for another organization and was replaced by someone who had been with another company.

Of course, we all expected that it would take a while until the new director became acclimated to our company and to us, his staff.  Unfortunately, he seems to be bent on doing things different, not because they are better, but because they are “his” way.  That would be OK if his way led to improvements.  But, more often than not, they impede our progress.  Once, I mentioned that our previous director did something a certain way, which resulted in improved efficiency.  He, in angry response, stated, “I’m not your previous director!”  Several other people in the department have received similar responses to even simple suggestions.

Now, many of our hallway discussions focus on our new director.  We’ve even nicknamed him “Twerp.”  Really, our discussions ought to be, as they were in the past, on getting our work done.  The productivity of our group has gone down significantly.  This doesn’t seem to bother him that much, as his main focus seems to be on getting “his” management stamp firmly imprinted upon the department. Before, we directed our vision to future achievements.  Now, we spend our mental energy wondering what the next silly edict will be.

What’s most amazing is that the director’s boss, a vice president, doesn’t seem to want to get involved.  We believe that he sees what’s going on, and we believe that he isn’t supportive of our director’s management techniques.  For instance, I’ve seen the vice president flinch once when the director announced, before our group, some new strange procedure he wanted followed.  But there’s been absolutely no change in our director’s actions.

The rumor is that the director was recommended by the CEO.  And, perhaps, the vice president doesn’t want to be the one to point out that the CEO made a big mistake.  So, who is most at fault, the CEO, the vice president, the director, or us?

How can higher management expect to inspire us when they say that the company has, with all its resources, to become the “most it can be?”  If I ran this company, I would get rid of the new director as fast as possible.  Then, perhaps, we can become the “most we can be,” for that’s what it takes to become very innovative and competitive. 

Anonymous