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Architecture & Engineering


Clive Shearer
Management
by Design
By Clive Shearer
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May 14, 2008

Management by Design: Office dictators: Not all fit the stereotype

  • Even a quiet, careful and cautious manager can be a dictator.
    • By CLIVE SHEARER
    Special to the Journal

    Imagine working for a dictator. From the moment you arrive at work you are subject to the whims of the overlord. We tend to think of dictators as being loud, demanding, aggressive and egotistical. While such dictators exist, office dictators are usually much more subtle. They control through power, yet the power is not always wielded with the “stick” or by means of harsh words.

    Dictatorship 101 can be summed up in one word: control. Yet, many leaders and managers who admit to wielding control would strongly deny being dictators. Even a quiet, careful and cautious manager can be a dictator. How do they control? Some sit on ideas and ponder, never making a decision. Responses can be long in arriving. Work sits untouched. Deadlines loom. Forced inaction breeds stress. This dictator controls through inaction.


     
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