Leadership

Manager to assistant: “assistant, please make up false numbers for the quarterly report we have to present to the shareholders”.

Manager to assistant: “assistant, please jump off a 50 story building”.

How should followers react when they do not agree with their manager’s directions?

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In today’s topic, I would like to talk about how employees should confront their manager’s decisions when they don’t agree. If many of you have seen or had a job, sometimes you disagree with the decisions imposed from your superiors, but why? Because you can consider it harmful for some other person, because you think there is a better solution, because it is the wrong thing to do, or simply because you just don’t agree. So the question that comes to mind is: how should I react to the order I was given? Should I express my opinion? Should I execute the order? WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO?

Depending on the cultural aspects of each country, people may work and face low power distance or high power distance (Hofstede). When facing low power distance cultures, it may be very easy for followers to react to managers decisions because the latter are more open to hearing out its subordinates. These employees have the chance to react almost in any way possible (of course, being positively and without any kind of violence) without facing any type of negative reaction from their boss; they can express freely their desires, their needs, their problems, their troubles, and of course, their opinions on managerial decisions. In my opinion, these type of cultures have a small advantage from high powered distanced ones because not only are employees more free of saying what they want to say without fearing the worst, but also, managers are open minded and are always receiving feedback from employees, finally to make a better decision, or improve the one already made.

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  On the other hand, people facing high power distance cultures have more trouble reacting and confronting their bosses; they fear a negative reaction such as yelling, humiliation and even getting fired. In my personal labor experience, I have found myself caught in this situation: I face a very cranky and mean boss, who ALWAYS reacts negatively to any feedback given from any employee. But for me, it was a learning experience. I found that the problem was merely a communication one; when confronted personally, he did not like to hear anything, but when confronted via email, he would respond in a polite manner and would later talk to you correctly. People facing these types of boss should look for a solution that doesn’t compromise their integrity. For example, seek out more people that feel the same way you feel; to try to talk to another person that has a same level as your boss, but is more open minded; look to see if your boss is more a telephone person than an upfront person; and so on. It is not impossible to communicate with them; it’s just a bit harder.

As a conclusion, I think each person lives a different experience with their boss and the only way to find out on how to react according to what he says is by empirical analysis; the analysis made on Hofstedes studies according to power distance are merely a macro analysis on the cultural patterns that might govern a company.

Bibliography

1. Nollaig 2010. Embracing your workplace resistors. Heffernan Consultancy Ltd. Accessed 06/03/2011. http://www.heffernanconsultancy.com/?cat=1

2. Leadership styles. www.nwlink.com. Accessed 06/03/2011. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html

3. King, Scott 2011. What great leaders do to get devoted followers. Manager cheat sheet. Accessed 06/03/2011. http://managercheatsheet.com/2011/01/08/what-great-leaders-do-to-get-devoted-followers/

Pictures:

1. Accessed 06/03/2011. http://reviews.in.88db.com/images/how-to-manage-your-boss.jpg

2. Accessed 06/03/2011. http://www.careerrocketeer.com/wp-content/uploads/Managing-Your-Boss.jpg