Ducks in a Row: Really Bad Management Advice
by Miki Saxon
Some of the worst management advice I’ve heard/read recently comes from Anthony Middleton, former Special Forces Operator and co-author of “SAS: Who Dares Wins.”
He said; “How do I earn the respect of a group that I don’t know? That’s pretty simple. I go in with a voice of authority. I go in and I show them exactly why I’m their leader. When I give my first set of orders, I’m actually going to get involved with those first set of orders, I’m going to get in there, get my hands dirty.”
On handling people with big egos, the Former SBS Operator says: “I play to their egos, sometimes the best thing to do is let them learn from their mistakes. What I do is I slowly let them trip up, I’ll slowly let them stumble, and then I’ll take hold of them, break them down and build them back up to where they need to be.”
In other words, set them up to fail.
As to building them up, who decides on “where they need to be?”
Given today’s workforce, the only positive thing I can see managers who take this advice accomplishing is to improve their hiring skills.
Sadly, I’ve worked with many people who, for whatever reason, were broken, but not built back up. (I’ve always believed there is a special circle in the Inferno for bosses who intentionally damage their people.)
Knowing how opinionated (prejudiced) I am on this subject, I asked KG, who is a Boomer, and Ryan, who is a Millennial, what they thought. (In case you’re wondering, I’m on the cusp between the Silent Generation and the Boomers.)
From KG Charles-Harris.
The special forces is like investment banking; highly trained and motivated individuals, strong egos, high impact consequences. When dealing with millions of dollars or serious life & death situations (include surgeons in this — my brother is one) with small time considerations, the need for decisiveness and people following orders escalates. There is little latitude for more collaborative or iterative decision making.
While often necessary in the circumstances described above (btw, this wasn’t an exhaustive list of professions), in most organizations and groups the command and control type of leadership would produce worse results. In fact, in the special forces, surgery and investment banking there are deep postmortems and other tools that are utilized to foster organizational learning.
From Ryan Pew.
The advice he is giving is something I have heard time and time again in a military setting where hierarchy is clearly defined and respected. I won’t say it doesn’t hold water in non-military settings but you have to adapt it when dealing with folks who are not as rigid.
In the first bold phrase, I guess I would assume that he is stepping into a new group already defined as the leader. In this case, it can make sense to have a voice of authority, be confident and I like that he backs it up by saying he will do the work with them rather than dictate from afar. However, that can be taken too far if it sounds like a dictatorial tone of voice, that won’t fly long term.
The second phrase is something I have seen during my time in the Marines. Senior Marines will allow junior Marines to make mistakes early on to learn from them. Typically this is done in a controlled environment before combat operations. The expectation that once we get into combat those rookie mistakes will no longer be there. It helps to build confidence in the young Marine and instill in them a strong work ethic. The breaking down aspect is something also done in a controlled environment.
BUT I WANT TO SAY RIGHT NOW THAT THIS IS INSANITY IF YOU THINK IT WORKS IN CIVILIAN LIFE.
I shouted that to be sure we are all clear here. In the military, you need to be a unified group lacking individuality. This builds cohesion and a willingness to follow orders immediately, even when you know they may kill you. The advantage is obvious, you have a superior fighting unit and ensure that weakness is pounded out.
That will not work at the office. If you have a boss who starts breaking people down emotionally or mentally only to so-called build them back up in the preferred image you will have a lawsuit or worse. Besides, offices do not need a singular mindset, they need creativity and individuality to thrive.
This boss would be a psychopath and it sounds like this guy is just saying stuff to sell books without utilizing it in real-world settings.
So simple answer, this works in the military, not real life.
So. Three generations, raised in substantially different worlds, but all agreeing that if you choose to follow Middleton’s advice you do so at your own peril.
Image credit: Robert Payne
