“Finally I got the post, after fifteen years of hard work,” he said to himself. Next day, he changed his way of clothing; he wore a suit, sunglasses and held a Samsonite bag. He looked at the mirror happily and told himself, “Now, I am a real manager, I can take decisions, I can control employees and my work will be recognized. I am going to change everything to my way because I have the upper hand.”
Internally, he was delighted because he took the office of his ex-manager whom he never liked to deal with. When he entered his new office, he stared at his new chair, started to think and asked himself, “I’m the manager but what am I going to do?” He began to wonder how he will make decisions, allocate resources and direct the activities of employees to attain goals. These tasks are not easy to handle.
His ex-manager had possessed high technical and conceptual skills but he did not have social ones. “He could not work with us, understand or motivate us, individually or in groups,” he thought. This may explain why the department did not always attain the predetermined goals. During his leadership, employees were not enthusiastic enough to work effectively because he never appreciated their work or discussed decisions with them before taking them. They always felt depressed because of his harsh criticism. Many quality employees left the department because he constantly yelled at them without any apparent reasons. He did not succeed in creating a healthy work environment. Sometimes he tried to motivate employees with money but that does not always drive satisfaction.
“I have to change so many things; I cannot succeed or attain goals without my team, without my colleagues,” he told himself.
After moments of thought, he looked back at the mirror and said loudly, “A true manager is a puzzle image, if a piece is dropped, the picture will never be complete.”
Marwa A. Mohsen
Photography: Mahmoud Mansi
EDITORS: Mennat-Allah Yasser Zohny & Nada Adel Sobhi