We all heard about the micromanager…But did you know there was someone just as toxic who has a completely different management style?
Ladies and gentleman, I give you the macromanager.
Honestly I didn’t even know this was a thing until I met my first macromanager. They said and I quote “I’m not like other managers. I’m a cool manager”.
This “cool” behaviour lasted until staff didn’t do things the way the manager wanted them done. Then manager would step in with more detailed instructions (which should have been included the first time) or redo the whole thing themselves. It wasn’t very pleasant but I understood it. This was someone who didn’t come from a Marketing background and it was clear that their Marketing knowledge- especially when it came to running a department- was limited.
But over time, the toxic behaviour started to morph into something more malicious. I watched as projects were taken away and handed to a specific individual and the manager started lashing out at the staff. And yet, no one stepped in. I watched the manager try to micromanage stuff or blame them for things not being done…when the obstacle in the way turned out to repeatedly be approval- aka the step the macromanager was responsible for.
Eventually shit hit the fan and two staff resigned while an additional two were made redundant. At this point people tried to raise the issue with the HOD. Who defended the manager. And defended the macromanager again. And again. And again.
I had seen this play out. The last time a HOD defended a toxic manager, it didn’t work out. The HOD ended up dismantling an entire team in order to keep the manager in their position. The good news- for the toxic manager in this specific scenario is that she ended up running a team. The bad news- for the team and the business- is that she now manages a bunch of people who are horrible at their job but very friendly with the toxic manager.
I had a feeling that things were going to play out the same way with the macromanager. But time will tell (and of course, I’ll come back here to share).