Rogue Managers : A common enemy in the Industry

By Iwan Fuad Salim(Iwanfuadsalim@yahoo.com)

The conventional wisdom is if you land a job at a well known multinational company, you will be working with the world’s finest managers. Sadly this has become the exception rather than the norm. Take the case of a colleague who left a renowned multinational company because he is deeply concerned with the management incompetency at the top, which amongst other things, could not even manage their own departments, let alone make major decisions with far reaching consequences for the benefit of the company.

At this particular company, the management, on paper, is rather solid. Board members have long experience in the industry, and in lots of different roles at different companies. It is not uncommon for the board members to have 20++ experiences in 3 or more companies, although most of them locally. Directors will be either in late 30s or early 40s, so again on paper, quite mature, quite experienced.

But the company is in a dire situation. From a profit of USD 20 million two years ago, it is forecasted to make a loss of USD 10 milion this year. Financial results are not the only area that could be better. Staff are leaving in alarming numbers and alarming frequencies. Morale for the staff that remains are depressingly low and there is a sense of disaster waiting to happen.

It can be argued that all of these can be traced back to the organization’s failure to groom responsible managers and inspiring leaders. Responsible managers are not created, they earn their stripes during their professional work. Inspiring leaders do not come out of School, they are most likely born with the charisma that made people look up to them. All this takes time and when people arrive at the Top too soon, they become rogue managers. Rogue managers have the grand titles but they don’t have the maturity and the gut to say it as it is. Rogue managers value speed of decision rather than quality of decision. Fire fighting becomes the norm rather than the exception. All of the resources of the organization are focused towards putting out fire- a poor allocation of resources.

The morale of the story is do your homework better. Just because it is a multinational company does not necessarily mean it is run well. Talk to people who are still working there. Find people who left the company, ask them their experience. By doing this , you will get a balanced perspective on things.

Watch out for tell-tale signs of Rogue Managers, when you ask these questions.
Don’t get trapped !