Do you assume the motivation behind the ambitious manager is the desire to make a difference or the craving for power , status and rewards that go with it? Maybe it’s always a mixture of both but for those who adopt the chaos theory of leadership it’s defiantly the latter. For the overconfident, extremely ambitious the aim is to get the top job and to keep it as long as possible. To this end they aim to disguise lack of leadership skills, gaps in knowledge and weaknesses of character by deliberately creating anarchy and a constant state of confusion. The best managers to work for are the ones who you know what they believe in and more specifically where they stand on issues which means when you’re in meetings/ discussions you can say with confidence what their position is. It stands to reason that the opposite are the worst to work for. If your boss keeps changing their mind, if they are inconsistent, if they are tactical rather than strategic, pragmatic rather than idealistic, lacking a moral compass and motivated by self interest, prepared to undermine team members rather than support them and with a tendency to blame others rather than accept responsibility then they are a nightmare to work for. Don’t assume this indicates a lack of intelligence or unintentional confusion this is deliberate. The chaos they choose to creat is both a distraction and a camouflage.
It’s the chaos theory of leadership in action. Blair Mcpherson former Director, author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
