Good People, Bad Managers by Samuel A. Culbert

Author:Samuel A. Culbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2017-03-15T16:00:00+00:00

Routine 5: Borrowed-Authority Power-Taking

Here’s a highly manipulative, self-protective routine that’s relatively new on the work scene, although I’m sure its basic approach has been around from the beginning of time. Since initially spotting it, I see it used with increasing frequency. Lacking a common-usage term, I refer to it as borrowed-authority power-taking.6 It entails managers expropriating the voice of a powerful person to advocate an action that’s good for them.

In its simplest form, the routine plays out something like this: “I spoke with Bill, probed his beliefs, and this is how he wants it done.” Bill could be the CEO with the power to mandate, the tech expert who people think is the final word, or a witch doctor with powers to hex. Whoever Bill is, if the cohort thinks Bill has the authority and is a person one doesn’t want to oppose, there’s nothing for the cohort to argue. Never said, but clearly implied in the manager’s statement, is this: “If you don’t like what I concluded from what Bill said, go argue with him.” It’s all but been federally mandated.

In contrast to the other routines I’ve described, this one entails a self-interested manager going on the offensive, intimidating cohorts and staring down their resistance. It gets a manager what they desire without having to stand visibly accountable. Instead of arguing the merits of a self-advantageous action, the manager gets to keep their views and motives hidden, challenging the other person to disobey an anointed authority. Through the use an assumed voice, what’s alleged doesn’t have to be literal, accurate, or appear aligned with the views of the power-taking manager. The manager might even claim to believe the opposite of the viewpoint referenced, saying something to this effect: “Golfing Saturday with Bill, I did my very best to argue . . . ,” concluding with, “I see no other alternative but to go along with what he wants.” What’s more, there’s very little vulnerability—at least the first time a cohort uncovers a misappropriation of Bill’s viewpoint. The culprit has a very plausible simple excuse: “I’m glad you caught that; obviously I got it wrong.”

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