Re: Difference between editor and manager

[George Allaman <gallama -at- LOOKOUT -dot- ECTE -dot- USWC -dot- USWEST -dot- COM>]

On Mon, 8 Jan 1996, Kathy E. Gill wrote:

> An environment of fear [>I'm much less likely to display my ignorance if it
> might affect my chances for a raise or promotion] is *not* conducive to
> creativity. It's not even accepted management theory for "production"
> workers.

> George, if you are working in an environment that is as judgmental as you
> imply, leave! Today's "manager" *should* be operating more like a
> coach/mentor than judge. Reams of research demonstrate that this style
> (coach) is more productive than manager-as-judge ..... but, of course, old
> dogs learn new tricks slowly and only if their bosses do too.

Thanks, Kathy. Actually, my situation here is fine - my boss is not a writer,
so he couldn't mentor me anyway. But I have been in that type of situation
and left (actually I was laid off with 83 other people).

I'm not convinced, though. I know all about the "new" management philosophies
which tend to "level all ranks", and although I like them, I believe the
upside-down pyramid model and the planar model are simple illusions created
to give the troops the impression that they are leading, too. I don't mean to
sound cynical.

The fact is that the troops are accountable to management, but management is
not accountable to the troops unless they are just being nice. Yes, people
review there bosses, but those reviews do not carry the weight of the reviews
that bosses give their employees. You're not going to convince me that it is
really a peer relationship.

No matter how down-in-the-trenches a manager tries to be, they are simply
not managing if they are not judging. And a judge makes a poor mentor.
I'm not saying that all managers are poor mentors; just that in general,
a peer makes a better one. To me, assigning a manager to mentor someone
is tantamount to giving them no mentor at all. Which is not a huge deal
either, if the overall work environment is a healthy one.

   |George Allaman               |                          |
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