Authority and insecurity

[8 Bit WWBG]

Some people put a lot of stock in titles and rank, and others are able to transcend them.  I'm curious what you think of the relationship between the two, and how people use their power.

For example, one of the top executives where I work seems to put a lot of stock into "summoning his subordinates".  On more than one occasion he's insisted people come to him when whatever business they had could have been done remotely (especially considering the overall pressure on federal agencies to spend taxpayer money wisely).

Personally, I think it is a sign of extreme insecurity, or just pompous asshattedness.  It's like he wants to remind people that he is in charge and has power.  There are times that may be appropriate, but people are people and nobody is invincible.  People don't forget how they are treated, and the subordinate is hardly powerless when it comes to finding ways to sabotage the boss.  There are loads of ways to delay initiatives and wait out these kind of people, without it being able to be blamed on you.

What do you think?  Are some of these folks making up for being bullied as kids?  Do they just get off on the power?  Do they know that if they didn't have their titles, someone would kick their butts?

[Artemis Windsong]

Yes.  A lot of managers are psychopaths.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I think the president of DH's company gets off on being in power.   He likes having underlings he can bully.   DH said he makes it really hard to get anything done b/c he likes to micromanage/dictate and sometimes his desires change by the hour.

We're curious how this is going to work now that the company has new owners.  He got away with a lot of it b/c he is a Shriner and the former owner is also a Shriner so it was nepotism at it's finest. I don't think the new owners (a larger national company) are going to give two shits that he is a shriner.

[quince]

People who are good at being in authority don't have to flex- they are just in charge.

The ones who make a dominance display are the ones who need to make a dominance display, because no one would know they were the boss if they didn't.

[NastyWoman]

Dec 18, 2015 17:33:20 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I think the president of DH's company gets off on being in power.   He likes having underlings he can bully.   DH said he makes it really hard to get anything done b/c he likes to micromanage/dictate and sometimes his desires change by the hour.

We're curious how this is going to work now that the company has new owners.  He got away with a lot of it b/c he is a Shriner and the former owner is also a Shriner so it was nepotism at it's finest. I don't think the new owners (a larger national company) are going to give two shits that he is a shriner.

Let's hope this is good news for your DH NomoreDramaQ1015 and he will start enjoying his work a little better.

[Anne_in_VA]

Dec 18, 2015 18:06:13 GMT -5 quince said:

People who are good at being in authority don't have to flex- they are just in charge.

The ones who make a dominance display are the ones who need to make a dominance display, because no one would know they were the boss if they didn't.

Yeah that x10!

[TheOtherMe]

I once worked for a micro manager.  She would call "stand up" meetings several times a day to assess the workload.  Do you know how much we didn't get done because of those meetings?

I swore to immediately quit if I ever found myself working for another micro manager.  Power does strange things to insecure people.

[Ombud]

I've never been impressed with how many series of letters there are behind a name. that and $1.85 will get them a cup of coffee. Show me that you know what you're talking about if you want to impress

[Tiny]

Some people put a lot of stock in titles and rank, and others are able to transcend them. I'm curious what you think of the relationship between the two, and how people use their power.

IDK, I don't think it's always insecurity that drives a 'boss' to throw their power around... I'm old and I've always been a worker bee.  I've had lots of managers sometimes for the same 'job'.   I've had 'newbie' managers and managers experienced with managing.     I've witnessed some very confident and secure Bosses who apparently thought flexing their management muscle was required - it fit into the image of what management did OR it was what they felt kept the worker bees in line (ie the worker bees wouldn't work if they weren't told what to do and how to do it).  But, it was just kind of the 'culture' - kind of like wearing a suit and tie to the office everyday.    

I think some bosses get driven to use their power to maintain whatever image they think they need to maintain.   It's like having whatever fashionable status symbol is currently 'hot' - you gotta keep buying new status symbols to keep up.   I guess that's a kind of insecurity.

I've only worked for one emotionally (maybe mentally) insecure, bully boss and I'm pretty sure she was Evil (maybe a psychopath).  That was a very unpleasant experience.

I think sometimes one's underlings DRIVE a manager to 'throw their weight around'.    I've witnessed employees who would purposefully push at a manager (either as a bid to waste time/work less/prove some irrelevant point?) and the manager would eventually have to end the stand off - by playing the "I'm the Boss" card.   If this happened enough the manager would just automatically default to "Do your job, or else!" in order to avoid an hour of not working.
I swear some employees see work as a competition (who can do the least amount of work).

[Abby Normal]

It doesnt have to be a boss. We have a "powertripper" in our office. She used to be the receptionist who did some general office work, part of it for the sales staff. We eliminated her position (as it was) and created 2 positions, each taking part of her old job. It's really a lateral move, but she she's it as a promotion. She has been a complete witch ever since. The things she has said to the new person, makes my head spin. It's really quite amazing to watch the shift in her, all because of her perceived power.

[happyhoix]

 

Personally, I think it is a sign of extreme insecurity, or just pompous asshattedness.

I vote for the pompous asshattedness. The worst boss I ever worked for was like this. Creating situations where employees had to grovel, sending his admin around the office to collect money for his Christmas gift - and send him a typed memo of who gave money and how much each person gave, and then sending her around again to get more money when the first go-round didn't generate enough cash to buy the antique telescope he had picked out for himself. 

The best bosses I had made our office feel like a team, with no one player being more important than the other, with everyone being able to joke with or tease every other person without being taken to task for being insubordinate. I don't think this had to do with security/insecurity, I think it had to do with the personality of each boss - if the boss was a mean bully to begin with, being the boss just amplified his vices.