A Slovak proverb could be translated as

Being a top performer increases the chance for promotion, usually new managers who are promoted from technical or administrative positions fail in their new role, and it’s not easy for them to shift their mindset from “Me” or “I” to “We”.  Top performers got used to be in the spotlight, and believe that their individual work should be admired, they fail to realize that their performance will be measured based on their teams performance and the outcome of the team work, not only their work.

When someone gets promoted to a managerial position for the first time, they think that the authority comes with the title, for them their opinion should be listened to, they will not accept any negotiation or second opinion, however, they will be shocked by reality when they ask their subordinates to do some tasks and they refuse to do, or propose another opinion. I believe that this attitude is not limited to an organization, or country, it is about individuals expectation, behaviors and their mindset, however, when comparing Arab’s management style, with western’s, we see a huge difference, that because of cultural and social influences, for example the majority of Organizations “are owned and managed by families. This factor personalized superior/subordinates relationship at organizations” (El-Farra, n.d). In addition to that the educational system in the Arab world does not encourage creativity or teach “future orientation” (El-Farra, n.d.). While in the western countries, roles, authorities and responsibilities are clear, and it’s easier for an individual to adapt with the new role, but still this attitude can be found in any country and any organization.

I used to believe that this attitude only exists in my culture as we suffer from such behaviors from newly assigned managers, once they get promoted to the management position, their attitude changes and assume that subordinates have to obey without questioning. When I used to work for my previous employer, which is a multinational support company, they recruited a technical guru from a western culture to manage a team in local office, he used to work as a senior in a technical position and were never exposed to management positions, he did a couple of mistakes that forced the management to demote, first he couldn’t shift from the Me to We mindset and he focused on promoting his achievements, rather than building a team environment, second he tried to control his subordinates rather than gaining their trust and commitment, because he used to give orders and never listen to others opinions, finally he focused on maintaining the smooth run for operations, rather than promoting new ideas to enhance the environment or performance of his team.

If I used to manage this new manager, I would have tackled the problem differently, demoting him was not the perfect action by the management, as it led to loosing interest in work and it was not easy to motivate him again, he felt that he failed and they lost his technical skills. Dealing with such situation should be by coaching and training the new employees to fit for the new position, they should understand the responsibility that was assigned to them, and should be trained how to manage, lead and encourage their subordinates to perform, this can be done by conducting trainings or leader workshops to help him shift his mindset from the Me to We.

References:

Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (2010), Organizational Behaviour (7th ed.) Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall

El-Farra, M., (n.d.), ‘Management Characteristics in Gaza’s Manufacturing Establishments: A Comparative Study’, [Online], Available from:

http://www.iugaza.edu.ps/ar/periodical/articles/volume12%20-%20Issue%202%20Human12.pdf

(Accessed 21 May 2011)

Hsieh, N., (2006), ‘Managers, Workers, and Authority’, Journal of Business Ethics (2007) V71, I 4, pp347–357, DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9145-y, Springer[Online]. (Accessed 21 May 2011)