Good People, Bad Managers

Good People, Bad Managers Plot Summary

Introduction

Despite the prevalent narrative that American management practices are the gold standard globally, a troubling reality persists: bad management is the norm, not the exception. This disconnect between perception and reality stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes good management. While companies may boast impressive financial results, these achievements often mask the daily human toll exacted by managers who, despite good intentions, consistently fail to provide what employees need to thrive and perform at their best. The central issue is not that managers are inherently malicious or incompetent, but rather that they are engulfed in a cultural force-field that often has them disoriented—engaged in actions having consequences they need to be aware of and do more about. This force-field pushes managers toward self-interest at the expense of other-directedness, encouraging them to treat employees as resources to deploy rather than as individuals with unique needs and aspirations. Understanding the systemic nature of this problem is crucial if we hope to transform workplace dynamics and create environments where both managers and employees can realize their full potential.

Chapter 1: The Prevalence of Bad Management Despite Good Intentions

The world of management operates on a profound contradiction. While American managers are widely celebrated for their entrepreneurial guile and innovative approach, the reality on the ground tells a different story. Statistical evidence supports this unsettling conclusion—Gallup polling consistently reports that four out of five people in management positions lack the talents needed to manage others effectively. This suggests an epidemic of inadequate management practices across organizations, regardless of their profitability or market dominance. This paradox stems from a cultural misunderstanding of what management truly entails. The prevailing work culture rewards managers for individual accomplishments rather than for creating conditions where others can succeed. Consequently, managers become so consumed with their own advancement that they lack the capacity to give others the focus they need. The American work ethic, deeply embedded in our educational system and cultural narrative, idealizes individual achievement and relentless self-improvement, often at the expense of collaborative success. Most managers enter their roles with genuine intentions to help others succeed. However, these good intentions alone are insufficient to overcome the cultural programming that prioritizes self-interest. The workplace systematically rewards credit-taking and accomplishment-claiming while providing little incentive for the often invisible work of supporting others' growth and development. This creates a cycle where well-meaning managers continue practices that alienate employees without realizing the damage they're causing. The disconnect between intention and impact is particularly evident in the day-to-day experiences of employees. People come to work wanting to feel good about themselves and count on their managers to help them be their best. Instead, they often find themselves on the defensive, putting as much energy into getting their boss to value their contributions as they put into doing the work itself. This dispiriting dynamic leaves employees feeling drained rather than energized by their work experiences. What makes this situation particularly tragic is that most managers are genuinely unaware of how their behavior affects others. They operate within a system that normalizes self-interested pursuit disguised as company-focused dedication. The problem is systemic rather than individual—it's not about a few bad apples but about a cultural environment that corrupts good intentions and encourages behaviors that undermine genuine collaboration and employee development.

Chapter 2: How Managers' Self-Interest Overrides Other-Directedness

The fundamental conflict in modern management lies between self-interest and other-directedness. Managers invariably claim their actions are designed to benefit their team or organization, yet their behaviors often reveal a different priority. This isn't merely hypocrisy—it's a cultural conditioning so profound that most managers genuinely believe they're acting in everyone's best interest when they're primarily serving their own. This self-interest manifests in what might be called the "rising tide lifts all boats" mentality. Managers convince themselves that their vision and direction, if successful, will benefit everyone involved. They position themselves as the captains steering the ship, with employees as the crew carrying out orders. While they may thank the team for their contributions, the substantial rewards—promotions, bonuses, increased status—flow primarily to the manager. Employees quickly see through this arrangement, recognizing that their hard work primarily advances their boss's career rather than their own. The distortion runs deeper than individual psychology—it's embedded in how management itself is conceptualized. True management should involve creating conditions for others to succeed on their own terms, not merely directing them toward goals defined by the manager. This requires understanding each employee's unique capabilities, aspirations, and limitations, then designing work experiences that allow them to contribute their best while developing in personally meaningful ways. Instead, the prevailing model treats employees as interchangeable resources to be deployed according to the manager's vision. The doublethink required to maintain this system is remarkable. Managers must simultaneously believe they're serving others while primarily advancing themselves. This cognitive dissonance creates a disconnect between what managers say and what they do. They speak of teamwork, collaboration, and employee development while their actions reveal hierarchical control, credit-taking, and self-promotion. This disconnect doesn't go unnoticed by employees, who gradually become cynical about management rhetoric. Perhaps most troubling is how this self-focused orientation prevents managers from seeing the impact of their actions. When problems arise—whether poor performance, missed deadlines, or employee turnover—managers typically blame individual employees rather than examining how their own management approach might have contributed to the situation. The system of one-sided accountability shields managers from confronting their role in creating workplace problems, perpetuating the cycle of ineffective management.

Chapter 3: Cultural Forces that Make Good Management Nearly Impossible

The work culture creates a hostile environment for genuine other-directed management through several pervasive mechanisms. First is the false ideal of objectivity—the belief that managers should make decisions based solely on facts and data, without subjective influence. This expectation is fundamentally incompatible with human nature. Every perception, interpretation, and decision is inevitably colored by personal experience, values, and self-interest. By denying this reality, the culture forces managers into a pretense of objectivity that undermines authentic relationships. This objectivity myth creates a particularly toxic dynamic around feedback and evaluation. Performance reviews epitomize this problem—they present one manager's subjective assessment as objective fact, with significant consequences for the employee's career and compensation. This pretense prevents honest dialogue about differences in perspective and creates a power imbalance that silences employees' authentic expressions of their experiences and needs. The selection and development of managers further reinforces problematic patterns. People are typically promoted to management based on their individual contributions or technical expertise, with little consideration for their people skills or other-directed orientation. MBA programs and management training primarily focus on strategic and analytical skills rather than on developing the empathy, emotional intelligence, and collaborative abilities essential for effective management. Even courses labeled as "soft skills" often treat these capabilities superficially, without addressing the deeper mindset shifts required. As managers advance in their careers, they encounter a paradoxical loss of power. While they gain formal authority, they become increasingly dependent on relationships with peers and higher-ups. This creates intense pressure to conform to cultural expectations, suppress authentic expression, and avoid conflict. The result is a political environment where managers focus more on managing impressions than on managing people effectively. The cultural emphasis on immediate accomplishment and short-term results further undermines good management. Developing people and building trust takes time and doesn't produce immediately measurable outcomes. In a system that rewards quarterly results and visible achievements, the invisible work of supporting others' growth is systematically devalued. Managers learn to prioritize activities that yield quick, tangible results rather than investing in longer-term developmental relationships. These cultural forces combine to create an environment where even well-intentioned managers find it nearly impossible to practice genuinely other-directed management. The system itself corrupts good intentions by aligning rewards and recognition with behaviors that undermine rather than support employee development and well-being.

Chapter 4: The Vulnerability and Self-Protection Trap for Managers

Managers operate in a state of perpetual vulnerability that profoundly shapes their behavior. This vulnerability stems from the cultural expectation of perfection—the belief that managers should be objective, emotionally controlled, technically expert in all aspects of their domain, and consistently successful. Since no human being can meet these standards, managers live in constant fear of being exposed as inadequate. This fear is especially acute regarding potential criticism from peers. Managers worry that something they say or do, however inadvertently, will trigger a cohort to mount an aggressive campaign of criticism, using accusations of bias, emotional decision-making, or hidden agendas to diminish their standing in the organization. The greatest irony is that the traits managers fear being accused of—subjectivity, emotional involvement, self-interest—are inherent aspects of human nature that everyone possesses. In response to this persistent vulnerability, managers develop elaborate self-protective routines. One of the most damaging is what might be called "speak-no-evil, hear-no-evil, report-no-evil" groupthink. Managers tacitly agree not to criticize one another's thinking, behavior, or decisions, even when they recognize serious flaws. This collusive pact prevents vital feedback and learning, while allowing problematic practices to continue unchallenged. Managers also protect themselves by projecting an image of being hardworking and overloaded. By documenting their diligence and accomplishments with metrics and deliverables, they create a shield against potential criticism. This approach also provides a ready excuse for avoiding unfamiliar activities that might expose limitations—"I'd love to help, but my team is at maximum capacity" becomes the standard response to requests that feel risky. The vulnerability trap extends to how managers handle information and authority. Many resort to borrowed-authority power-taking, invoking the voice of a more powerful figure to advocate actions that serve their interests. Others manipulate processes and committees to create the appearance of fair play while ensuring their preferred outcomes. These tactics allow managers to exert control while maintaining plausible deniability about their self-interest. Perhaps most debilitating is how this constant self-protection prevents managers from engaging authentically with employees and peers. Genuine connection requires vulnerability—admitting mistakes, acknowledging limitations, expressing honest opinions, and being open to feedback. When managers feel too threatened to engage in these behaviors, they create superficial relationships characterized by political calculation rather than authentic collaboration.

Chapter 5: Why Organizational Leadership Must Drive Change

The systemic nature of bad management means that individual managers, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot transform the situation on their own. Attempting isolated improvements while operating within a system that incentivizes and rewards contradictory behaviors is like trying to swim upstream against a powerful current—even the strongest swimmers eventually tire and get swept along. True transformation requires leadership from the top of the organization. Only top-tier leaders have the authority and influence to redefine what constitutes good management and create the conditions that enable it to flourish. This involves more than inspirational speeches or new policy documents—it requires fundamentally rethinking how managers are selected, developed, evaluated, and rewarded. Leaders must first acknowledge that the current management paradigm is fundamentally flawed. This means moving beyond superficial critiques of specific practices to recognize how the underlying cultural assumptions create systematic problems. Leaders often resist this deeper examination because it implies that they have been complicit in maintaining a dysfunctional system. Yet without this honest reckoning, change efforts remain superficial and ineffective. Beyond acknowledgment, leaders must distinguish clearly between leading and managing—related but distinct activities that require different mindsets and approaches. Leading involves setting direction and making strategic decisions, activities where a self-directed focus is appropriate. Managing, by contrast, should focus on creating conditions for others to succeed, requiring an other-directed orientation. By clarifying these distinctions, leaders can create more appropriate expectations and support systems for each role. Perhaps most crucially, leaders must align incentives and recognition with the behaviors they want to encourage. As long as managers are primarily rewarded for individual achievements and short-term results, other-directed management behaviors will remain rare. Creating meaningful incentives for developing people, building collaborative relationships, and supporting team success is essential for lasting change. Leaders must also create psychological safety that allows managers to be more authentic and vulnerable. This means modeling these behaviors themselves, acknowledging their own mistakes and limitations, and demonstrating that such admissions lead to learning rather than punishment. Only when managers feel secure enough to drop their defensive routines can they engage in the genuine connections that support effective management.

Chapter 6: Breaking the Cycle: Creating Company Support Systems

Transforming management culture requires more than individual awareness—it demands systematic supports that enable and reinforce new ways of thinking and behaving. The first crucial support is providing processes that help managers "unlock from the past." Simply telling managers to behave differently ignores the deeply ingrained thinking patterns that drive current behaviors. Effective change processes must explicitly address the flawed assumptions underlying problematic practices and provide opportunities for managers to examine and revise their mental models. Another vital support is creating systems that make managers feel secure enough to focus on others. Security is the bedrock of Maslow's hierarchy of needs—without it, people remain self-focused and defensive. For managers to take the risks involved in authentic, other-directed behavior, they need to know that such actions won't jeopardize their standing or career prospects. This means designing evaluation and reward systems that explicitly value and recognize other-directed management activities. Organizations must also establish processes that counteract the cultural expectation of objectivity. Encouraging the use of first-person language ("I think," "In my view") rather than third-person assertions ("The facts show," "It's clear that") helps normalize the subjective nature of all human perception and judgment. This shift creates space for multiple perspectives and honest dialogue about differences in viewpoint. A particularly powerful support is reframing accountability. The traditional punitive approach to accountability, where mistakes lead to blame and negative consequences, drives defensive behavior and cover-ups. Instead, organizations should embrace lessons-learned accountability, where the focus is on what the individual and organization can learn from mistakes to prevent similar problems in the future. This approach encourages transparency and continuous improvement rather than defensiveness. Practical tools can further support this cultural transformation. Joint learning discussions between managers and direct reports, where both parties reflect on their contributions, learnings, and areas for improvement, replace traditional one-sided performance reviews. Manager support groups provide safe spaces for discussing challenges and experimenting with new approaches. Structured processes for gathering employee feedback give managers insights into the impact of their behaviors. Perhaps most importantly, organizations need to create systems that make it safe for employees to speak candidly about management problems. This might involve anonymous feedback channels, skip-level meetings where employees can talk directly with higher-level leaders, or regular pulse surveys with transparent follow-up. When employees see that their input leads to meaningful changes rather than repercussions, they become partners in the transformation process.

Chapter 7: Paths to a More Other-Directed Management Culture

Creating a more other-directed management culture requires both top-down leadership and bottom-up consciousness-raising. For individuals at any level of the organization, two complementary approaches can help advance this transformation. The first involves personal reflection on discordant feelings provoked by specific management actions. By identifying the messages communicated by these actions and their impact on effectiveness and well-being, individuals gain clarity about what needs to change. This reflective process allows individuals to separate personal reactions from systemic issues. Rather than taking problematic management behavior personally, people can recognize it as a product of cultural forces affecting everyone in the organization. This awareness doesn't eliminate the negative impact but provides perspective that reduces unnecessary suffering and enables more strategic responses. The second approach involves coalition-building through shared insights. By exchanging perspectives with trusted colleagues, individuals can develop more comprehensive understanding of management problems and their systemic roots. These conversations create solidarity that counteracts the isolation many feel when experiencing management difficulties. Over time, these discussions can generate momentum for change as more people recognize the shared nature of their challenges. For those in management positions, five mind-set destinations can guide the journey toward more other-directed management. First is security—feeling confident enough in one's value and position to focus on others' needs rather than self-protection. Second is authenticity and integrity—bringing one's genuine self to interactions rather than maintaining a politically calculated façade. Third is systems thinking—considering how one's actions impact others throughout the organization and taking responsibility for those effects. The fourth mind-set is self-management and self-development—taking charge of one's own growth rather than waiting for external direction. Finally, the fifth destination is valuing interpersonal competence and rewarding relationships—recognizing that authentic human connection is both personally fulfilling and organizationally valuable. These mind-sets aren't absolute states but rather directions for ongoing development. For organizational leaders, the path forward involves creating processes that help managers experience the benefits of these mind-sets. Rather than prescribing specific behaviors, effective leaders provide experiences that allow managers to discover for themselves the value of other-directed approaches. This might include structured reflection exercises, facilitated dialogues, or experimental projects that require new ways of working with others. Ultimately, transforming management culture requires persistent effort from all organizational levels. While the work culture at large may change slowly, individual companies can create microclimates that nurture more human-centered management practices. As these approaches demonstrate their effectiveness in both human and business terms, they can gradually influence broader cultural norms.

Summary

The heart of the management crisis in modern organizations lies not in individual failings but in a work culture that systematically corrupts good intentions. By elevating false ideals of objectivity, perfection, and individualism, this culture forces managers into pretense and self-protection rather than authentic, other-directed leadership. The resulting behaviors—hierarchical control, political maneuvering, and credit-taking—create environments where neither managers nor employees can realize their full potential. Transforming this dynamic requires multilevel change. Organizational leaders must take responsibility for creating systems that enable and reward other-directed management, while individuals at all levels can engage in consciousness-raising that illuminates the systemic nature of management problems. Through persistent effort to align management practices with fundamental human needs for security, authenticity, and meaningful connection, organizations can create environments where good people become genuinely good managers—and where everyone thrives as a result. This transformation offers not just greater workplace satisfaction but also enhanced organizational performance through the unleashed creativity and commitment of fully engaged employees.

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Samuel A Culbert

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