Scott Berkun

2 Responses

• 
• Mark - August 23, 2006 at 12:03 pm #

• From your position, doesn’t sound like there’s anything you can do to “manage” him. Nor is it realistic to expect him to change.

  If you want to continue to work in the environment he creates, you might find it more profitable (and healthy for your sanity) to manage your own expectations. Don’t expect the outcome of interactions with him to be any different tomorrow, or on project x or under circumstances y, then they’ve been in the past.

  
  

• 
• Norm - September 21, 2006 at 11:51 am #

• “disrupting my authority”, “snide”, “egotistical” are often in the eye of the beholder. How much agreement is there in the team about this? You should check.
  Sometimes, middle management tries to maitain authority by controlling information flow. When their boss talks directly to the team, it looks like disrupting authority. Do you do something like this?
  True authority is leadership. It is not appointed by management structure, it is given to the appointed manager by the team. If your team sees you as a leader, almost nothing your boss does takes it away from you.
  You may not know how good or bad you really are. I was manager of a team for two years and never knew that my team felt I did a good job until I changed job. On the last day, the team members came to say goodbye and told me I had been one of the best boss they ever had. And I tought I was barely in control!
  Check with your team. If they see you as a true leader you can ignore the antics of that owner-boss. If they do not, consider that the problem is not him.

  On the other hand, if this person is a real egocentric socially maladapted individual, you need to ask yourself if it’s worth it. If you are a good team leader, you might be happier to work for a decent human being.