The manager that’s never there

In every office, in every building, there’s a manager who’s never there. They’re always double booked for meetings, running from important thing to even more important thing – and even when you see them in the flesh they have a cell phone in one hand, a blackberry in the other, and a line of people waiting outside their door. No matter how patient you are you can never get them 1-on-1 with their full intention intact. He’s so hard to get to, you sometimes see people squeeze their way into his attention by following him on walks to the bathroom, the kitchen or his car.

When I was new to the industry I used to think the uber-busy manager was a kind of god – If they’re so busy, doesn’t that mean they’re very important? I used to think so, but not anymore.

Everyone in the tech-sector goes through a phase early in their career where they’re proud of their hours. At software and consulting companies everwhere, circles of 20 something friends debate, over drinks each night, who’s put in crazier hours – “I worked 70 hours last week”, “70? I worked 70 hours in 3 days.” “3 days? I worked 70 hours this morning, before breakfast.” And on it goes. It’s a kind of dumb male pride in size of things, rather that quality or, god forbid, actual hapiness. To work 70 hours is a statement of work, not of progress. For every idiot working 70 hours there’s a smarter, wiser man who’s doing the same amount of work in 50 because he’s paying more attention to results than the clock. I’d rather be, and rather hire, that man.

It might take a few years for this realization to happen, but soon one or more of that circle of friends will ask “Why I am spending 70 hours a week at work when I want a girlfriend, a dog, and maybe even a life?” The ever-busy manager is the one person who never fully asks that question. They’re stuck in the mode of volume, pride based on being busy rather than making good things happen.

A good manager will discover that if they are unavailable to the people who work for them, then they can’t be of the best use to their team. If they can’t manage their time so that the important people, the ones who call him/her boss, see him as available for them, they’ve failed in the most fundamental way. Most work he does can be done by others – but giving advice or lending support as “the boss” is a role unique to him.

I had a manager once who insisted on reading his e-mail and typing responses through our 1-on-1s. He’d pretend to give me focus by typing without looking most of the time, but I never saw his soul in his eyes – it was more in the e-mail than with me. I soon found myself cutting our 1-on-1s as short as possible (and reading job postings).

Anyone truly important and powerful should recognize that if they don’t have time for important things, it’s their job to delegate tasks away until they do. If they can’t do that then they’re posers – they don’t have real power at all. A VP should never be so involved in the daily business that they’re not able to jump in to fight unexpected fires or teach the new and inexperienced lessons, special advice straight from the VP, that take more than 30 seconds or a half-assed e-mail. Those are the special things that only the truly powerful can do.

So reconsider who you give respect to: the manager that’s never there, or the one that’s always there when you need them.

Posted Thursday, March 16th, 2006 at 10:49 am

in Management | 13 Comments » |

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Scott (admin) - March 16, 2006 at 4:03 pm #

True – the ideal manager might be like a good dog. They warn you when there’s trouble, they stay out of your way when you’re busy, and they can led a hand whenever you ask.

(Of course good managers have qualities dogs don’t, such as not needing to be walked 3 times a day or be reminded not to sleep on the couch).

robert gal - March 16, 2006 at 5:57 pm #

yes, I used to be that ‘busy’ looking man type. I was pride, that I’m so busy, and first thing I told to new people I met was “i’m a very busy person”. Also, each my second sentence was “I have no time”.

Ha. I now know, I was bad. Just agree on everything you wrote. Time management could be onself an art. After I learnd, how to manage my time, I feel, like I have time for everything, and everyone, and more, I’m like two or three times more productive than before, and have like 50% more free time like before.

Inspired me Russel Crown, from the Beautiful mind… a girl came to him in the class, and asked him: “do you have 10 minutes for me?”..he said: “I always have 10 minutes”. nice

JC - March 16, 2006 at 7:17 pm #

Poor Marx is rolling in his grave. When did people start getting proud about how much they are being exploited, which is essentially what is happening when people brag about their hours.

Ric - March 16, 2006 at 7:44 pm #

Motion should not be confused with forward progress. Activity should not be confused with productivity. Maximal exertion cannot redress the consequences of minimal planning.

Timothy Johnson - March 19, 2006 at 7:55 pm #

Do you think the unproductive managers use the “bragging about the hours” as a subconscious smoke-and-mirrors to hide their lack of progress? That’s been my experience/perception with this beast. It can be interesting to watch their reaction when somebody calls them into accountability for proof of results. (interesting = so darn funny to watch it should be on pay-per-view)

Vineet Reynolds - March 20, 2006 at 9:52 am #

This is so typical of most businesses. People who need to take decisions are not there when they’re to be made. And people who need guidance dont find anyfrom the powers that are. People who can make good decisions are in the wrong places with no power or responsibility. And yet, these companies survive.
Is it just me or is the smartest person usually in the wrong place most of the times?

Laurence Rowe - March 21, 2006 at 4:56 am #

This is the reason that the French think us anglo-saxons are completely nuts about how we work. 35 hours maximum working week, by law. (Pity I find french too hard going…)

Hanif Rehman - March 21, 2006 at 2:56 pm #

Too right, humans lose productivity after a couple of hours anyway and need to re-vitalise the energy somehow. Working a 70 hours every 3 days is nuts. We in Europe and the States need to work smarter and become more efficient and not work insane hours.

Alex Shapiro - April 16, 2006 at 10:14 pm #

This is pretty accurate, but I found the lack of analysis of why managers act that way a bit disappointing. Chucking it off to â€œprideâ€ is giving too much credit to the managers. In my and my friends experience managers usually know less then who work under them, and as such they need to create an air of unavailability and intimidation so they wonâ€™t be challenged on anything. The usual explanation they try to convince themselves of is â€œI see the big picture, I donâ€™t have the time for detailsâ€, but in reality they are just hiding their inadequacy. I am now working as a manager and try to remain as I was before in regards to my relations with coworkers. A manager has to have most of the knowledge required for the successful completion of a given project, and hence has to have that knowledge or work harder then his subordinates to acquire it. As it usually happens, the biggest kiss-ass get the job and everyone suffers, including the project. I got the promotion only because our management is tight with money and there wasnâ€™t enough time to find a new manager to meet the deadline.

Ahmad - May 18, 2006 at 2:08 am #

i agree with Alex Shapiro. unfortunately most managers comes out of heavens directly .i have hardly seen managers growing .How come a manager can understand the problems of his workers if he has never been through that time .Most companies prefer to have an alien manager to impress its workforce rather then create a sanctuary to grow managers .How unfortunate ;)

randomthoughts » Wise words - August 6, 2006 at 5:38 pm

[...] Wise words Tags: Quality, management, productivity Monday, March 20th, 2006 To work 70 hours is a statement of work, not of progress. For every idiot working 70 hours thereâ€™s a smarter, wiser man whoâ€™s doing the same amount of work in 50 because heâ€™s paying more attention to results than the clock. Iâ€™d rather be, and rather hire, that man. Source (via) [...]