Funny Things Words… by Paul Deemer

Welcome to the third guest post in this series responding to the statement that “There is no such thing as Management”.

This post comes from Paul Deemer. If like me you follow Paul on Twitter (@NHSE_Paul), then you’ll know him for his passion for equality, diversity & human rights.  He’s one of those special people whose ethics & values shine through in his online interactions.

Language is an incredibly important part of our working lives that Paul highlights perfectly. I hope that you enjoy reading his post!

Funny Things Words…

Did you manage to do that? How are you managing?

Words are important. Whether written or spoken, they give a sense of who someone is, what they are feeling and – perhaps most importantly – what they are thinking.

Performance management. Management by objectives.

Words can be soft or hard. Strong or gentle. Kind or harsh.

Management is the same. At the end of the day, it is only a word. Everybody has a different definition of it – and every definition is different. If I had a penny for every article that I’ve seen that tries to compare and contrast management and leadership…..well, I’d have a very full piggy bank!

So – is management leadership – and leadership management? Who cares! At the end of the day, I want a manager who listens, cares about me as a person, gives me opportunities to develop and who get things done. That’s what all good managers do. Nothing more, nothing less.

Can managers be leaders? Yes! Of course they can. But save that for another time, another place. When I’m sitting in a room having supervision, I don’t want a sermon. I don’t want a lecture about Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change. I want someone who knows the name of my dog (if I had one!) and who knows how I take my coffee. I want a manager who actually makes me coffee – rather than always getting it made for her. I want a boss who can spend 50 minutes of our supervision talking about the latest news in the office and only 10 talking about my personal objectives for the next six months, but still leave me raring to go!

I want a boss who…..by the way, did I say “boss”? Do I want a manager to boss me? Funny things words…