Should Rookie Managers Be Collaborative or Bossy?

From the Marshall Memo #435

“Nobody likes to be bossed around,” says Clarkson University professor Stephen Sauer 

in this Harvard Business Review article. “Numerous studies, including my own, have shown 

that a collaborative management style is usually best.” But this doesn’t seem to apply to rookie leaders who are perceived as having lower status because of their age, education, experience, or other factors. They do better when they take charge, set a clear direction, and get subordinates working on their agenda. “For these bosses,” says Sauer, “it pays to be bossy.” 

Here’s the psychology behind this counterintuitive finding. New bosses are immediately sized up by subordinates – age, years of experience, graduate-school education, etc. – and if they seem unimpressive, a collaborative leadership style is taken as a sign of weakness. But if the new leader is directive and assertive, subordinates take that as a sign of confidence and revise their opinion upward [provided, of course, that the new boss’s directives make sense and are strategically wise].

With leaders who are seen as seasoned, knowledgeable, and competent, a bossy leadership style turns people off. “High-status leaders who give orders are viewed as less confident and less effective,” says Sauer, “and the performance of their teams suffers.”

This suggests that newly-arrived leaders should do a reality check on how they are perceived by their subordinates. If they’re seen as experienced and competent, they should reach out for suggestions and empower their people; if they’re seen as inexperienced and of questionable competence, they should set the agenda and give clear direction. Only after their status has risen should they introduce a more collaborative leadership style. 

“Why Bossy Is Better for Rookie Managers” by Stephen Sauer in Harvard Business Review, May 2012 (Vol. 90, #5, p. 30), 

http://hbr.org/2012/05/why-bossy-is-better-for-rookie-managers/ar/1