Krystal Woolley,sHRBP
August 22, 2019
Over the years, I have worked with many types of bosses. The expectation from every single one is for the employee to adapt to change, individual management styles, and processes. In addition, company culture is almost always misrepresented with a company. Many employers do not know what “company culture” means. On the contrary, many employees and prospective employees are now trying to “experience” a variety of different types of careers and companies. The demand for longevity is more critical than ever.
TYPES OF BOSSES
The Dictator. The dictator is a type of boss is the one who says, “it is my way or the highway”. What this person means, is they want the tasks done the exact way they would do it in the exact medium they would have it in. The advantage of this is if a company is profitable, their method has proved to them to work. These types of bosses typically pay more to keep employees. The disadvantage is, it is does not allow for individual autonomy, creativity, or flexibility. In addition, the boss does not want to listen to any other methods even if it accomplishes the same goal. Many times, the boss changes their mind multiple times in very short intervals.
These types of bosses are very often extremely strict on time and attendance, only abide by the letter of the law, and looks for loopholes to avoid providing benefits such as FMLA and disability to employees. They want to hire you to do your job and go home. They also feel like they should not have to encourage, motivate, or train you additionally at work because they pay you a wage “to get the job done”. In addition, this boss will set you up for failure just to see how you react under pressure. If you are a person seeking to do a job, go home, and your only motivation is pay, this is the type of boss you would want to work for.
The Visionary. The visionary is a type of boss that has a very ambitious vision of what the company should be, where they want it to go, and a macro idea of how it should be done. This type of boss seeks out people who share their same viewpoints and think in a very similar way they do. Many times, this type of boss will drive the company in a monetary deficit. In other words, they will spend a quarter to save a dime.
The advantage to this type of supervisor is the genuinely care about their employees because they hire like minded individuals. They provide the goal and the funds, and the employee has the autonomy to make it happen within the time frame given. A lot of innovation comes through this type of management style.
The disadvantage is the company spends more money than it can bring in and inevitably loses its ability to sustain good employees due to uncertainty. In addition, because this type of supervisor provides a lot of flexibility and autonomy, they typically do not pay as much or as competitive as their dictator counter parts.
The Transformer. The transformer is a powerhouse of information and wants employees to have it all. This boss teaches employees all what they need to know to do their job successfully and provides guidelines in which employees must follow in order to be compliant with company policy. Often, the supervisor will over communicate to provide additional information for future use and for the employee to have a micro and macro understanding of why a decision is made. These types of bosses generally take a longer time to make a decision of great importance.
The advantages of having a supervisor of this nature would include increased knowledge about field and job the employee is working in, increased promotion potential, flexibility and autonomy after initial micromanagement to get the employee where they need to be.
The disadvantage is the boss doesn’t have a lot of time do their job. They wear their emotions on their sleeve and can bend over backwards too much for employees that do not appreciate their management style, and they are willing to spend too much money out of budget for unnecessary employee related items.
Every boss is different; however, every employee is different as well. Every employee thrives differently under different types of supervision. Both employee and boss are rarely vocally honest about the type of employee or manager they are. Many employees thrive better under a certain management style. For example, if an employee is an accounting assistant with very little real-world vocational training, they may thrive better under the Transformer in lieu of the Dictator. On the contrary, the house framer may prefer the Visionary over the Transformer or the Dictator over the Visionary.
The goal as a boss and employee is to honestly acknowledge the style you are, the type of employee you want to manage so both parties can work together to achieve the goals that are set forth.
If you have questions or would like to know more, I would love to have a conversation regarding this information.
Disclaimer: this information is opinion based on personal experience and education. None of this information is intended to be fact or represent any company values.
