So like lots of other people I’m fixing to write a blog. I have no particular expertise at this subject except that I is one. But before I go too deeply into anything I need to establish some bona fides so that anyone who has the misfortune of reading this (and others, if there are any) will know that I’m just another schmuck middle manager.
You can use your own definition, and there are probably Harvard MBAs who can parse it correctly, but to me a middle manager has direct reports who are themselves supervisors, and he/she has a boss who is multiple steps from executive status. This is the position I am in – we have 8 supervisors who look to me for leadership, and in turn they have 70-odd mechanics who look to them to set the course. I have a boss who is three steps from the CEO.
I am also in charge of three engineers. The skill set required to manage engineers, and other technical fields, is quite different than supervisors who have come up through the ranks. No doubt we will get to this in due time.
My goal in writing this is simply as stress relief. If someone actually reads it and gets a hint or two it would be a huge bonus. I’ll try very hard to make sure these are not bitch sessions despite the fact that I know at times there will be spite flying through the keyboard.
I do not pretend to be an expert. I have a graduate degree, which only means that I had the will to study and research every night for 3 years instead of watching TV or surfing the web. A degree only makes you smarter if you use it. In my case, I’m just a wee bit smarter.
Many people (those good folks in human resources, for example) believe experience is key to job performance, so it would be fair to ask about mine. I’ve spent most of my career as a project engineer/manager, and then started management on the engineering side. I got lucky in 2007 when a manager tapped me for my present position.
I’m not going to mention my employer. Since this is a public domain they might find out that I am writing about them and I do think they will take to my opinions very often. My employer believes there is only one personality type that makes a good manager, and I don’t really fit the mold.
I will use anecdotes from my day-to-day life. The names will be changed to protect the imbeciles.
I work in an old manufacturing business and it is the epitome of a dying industry. The processes are mature and have only had incremental changes in the last hundred years. Back in the day there were around 50 plants within a 300 miles radius of mine that made a similar product. Now there might be 20. There are many reasons for this (off-shore competition, dwindling raw materials, etc.). One more possibility is crappy management.
Here are a couple quick notes on my writing. As you can see I like sidebars (i.e. parentheses). I’ll try to keep from using them in every paragraph. I can be sarcastic. Very sarcastic. If you see a sentence that you think might be sarcasm, go with it. My vocabulary owes much to the verbal styling of a longshoreman. I will do my best to keep this PG-13. There will be euphemisms, like freaking, dam, and long may it live the #*&@%$#. If you think I might be using a bad word and that I am self-censoring, you are going to be right.
There will be a few pop references every now and again. If there is something you don’t get it is probably a Monty Python reference. With any luck at all we’ll keep those to a minimum.
The rest you will figure out as we go along. So might I.
Oh, one more thing. I have read my fair share of business books. Since life is a bell curve, I can state without reservation that a few of these books are excellent, most are decent, and a few really suck. From time-to-time I’ll review a few of my favorites and skewer some that are pathetic.
You can use your own definition, and there are probably Harvard MBAs who can parse it correctly, but to me a middle manager has direct reports who are themselves supervisors, and he/she has a boss who is multiple steps from executive status. This is the position I am in – we have 8 supervisors who look to me for leadership, and in turn they have 70-odd mechanics who look to them to set the course. I have a boss who is three steps from the CEO.
I am also in charge of three engineers. The skill set required to manage engineers, and other technical fields, is quite different than supervisors who have come up through the ranks. No doubt we will get to this in due time.
My goal in writing this is simply as stress relief. If someone actually reads it and gets a hint or two it would be a huge bonus. I’ll try very hard to make sure these are not bitch sessions despite the fact that I know at times there will be spite flying through the keyboard.
I do not pretend to be an expert. I have a graduate degree, which only means that I had the will to study and research every night for 3 years instead of watching TV or surfing the web. A degree only makes you smarter if you use it. In my case, I’m just a wee bit smarter.
Many people (those good folks in human resources, for example) believe experience is key to job performance, so it would be fair to ask about mine. I’ve spent most of my career as a project engineer/manager, and then started management on the engineering side. I got lucky in 2007 when a manager tapped me for my present position.
I’m not going to mention my employer. Since this is a public domain they might find out that I am writing about them and I do think they will take to my opinions very often. My employer believes there is only one personality type that makes a good manager, and I don’t really fit the mold.
I will use anecdotes from my day-to-day life. The names will be changed to protect the imbeciles.
I work in an old manufacturing business and it is the epitome of a dying industry. The processes are mature and have only had incremental changes in the last hundred years. Back in the day there were around 50 plants within a 300 miles radius of mine that made a similar product. Now there might be 20. There are many reasons for this (off-shore competition, dwindling raw materials, etc.). One more possibility is crappy management.
Here are a couple quick notes on my writing. As you can see I like sidebars (i.e. parentheses). I’ll try to keep from using them in every paragraph. I can be sarcastic. Very sarcastic. If you see a sentence that you think might be sarcasm, go with it. My vocabulary owes much to the verbal styling of a longshoreman. I will do my best to keep this PG-13. There will be euphemisms, like freaking, dam, and long may it live the #*&@%$#. If you think I might be using a bad word and that I am self-censoring, you are going to be right.
There will be a few pop references every now and again. If there is something you don’t get it is probably a Monty Python reference. With any luck at all we’ll keep those to a minimum.
The rest you will figure out as we go along. So might I.
Oh, one more thing. I have read my fair share of business books. Since life is a bell curve, I can state without reservation that a few of these books are excellent, most are decent, and a few really suck. From time-to-time I’ll review a few of my favorites and skewer some that are pathetic.
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