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Gorilla Management 5

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sbozy25

sbozy25

Mechanical
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A former colleague of mind sent me this news article via the web the other day. I must say it was scarry how accurately this described the company we used to work at. Luckily I had the brains to "jump ship" when I did. I figured that you all may enjoy the read....


If you have never worked in an environment like this.... count your blessings....
 
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These types of people cast a very long shadow. And the damage they do can remain long after their departure. But there is a reason why they exist - and in certain situations they perform a critical role and are needed. They can be the right kind of fit in a company that really needs a wake-up call in order to survive in the marketplace. Just before I worked there, a company that I formerly worked for had a president who fit this description to a T. According to the employees that worked for him he was a drunk, napolean-complexed SOB who would swear up a storm in front of just about anybody, but he got his people to tow the line and follow the right line of thinking. After the bloodbath was done and the company found itself in better shape, they let him go. My only regret is that I didn't get to meet him. After hearing so many stories about him, it's difficult to believe that someone this dysfunctional ever made it to the top of a company. I guess that I just wanted to actually form my own opinion. It may be a good thing if I never get to do this.

Maui

 
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In your case, the end result MAY have been positive, but I also wonder at what cost.

I have also seen where this type of manager on top causes a situation where everyone underneath, resists. By resists, I mean in the way that is achieved through the use of co-coercive management. The people do, just good enough, to keep the boss quiet, but will never truly excel.

Ultimately, in order to be successful a manager must be able to rely on their own, "personal power", which can only be achieved through earning the respect of the people that they manage.
 
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Ok, I have to post to this. Many years ago I worked for the King Gorilla (aka Satan) at a large manufacturing company. He was a VP and I was a manager over supervisors. Yes, he was a great manager for getting the numbers but, to list just a few of the highlights, here is what it cost:

1. He ordered me to fire one of my employees because the guy got leukemia after 40-yrs of service. He thought it would cost the company to much on insurance.
2. He ordered me to fire another employee because “he is one of those lazy ‘N-word-here’ and you know how they are”.
3. He drove another manager so hard that the guy had a heart attack at his desk and died. He wouldn’t give time off for anyone to go to the funeral “because the guy was only here for a short time so we didn’t really know him”.
4. My father had an emergency triple bypass surgery and he didn’t want to let me go “because that’s a common surgery these days and it not as big a deal as it used to be”. I went anyway.
5. I won’t even tell you the toxic waste story, or the many multitudes of verbal bashings, threats, public tongue lashings, lies, covering for him while he cheated on his wife, covering for his drug abuse, and listening to his stupid sob stories and why I should feel sorry for his rough life.

In short here is how it played out. I refused to fire either one of the guys noted above. I stated: “I not only will not fire either one of them, if you fire them I will quit.” Satan and I got into a heated argument which resulted in him pushing me physically in my office, I snapped and beat the crap out of him and left. When I walked out of my office, everyone in cubieville was stunned. I called my wife and told her that our plan to move was going to happen quicker than I thought and I went home.

I warned the two other employees that the nut-job was out to get them. The guy with leukemia took my job and began recording all his conversations with the boss. Two months later he was ordered to “fire that ‘N-word’”. Bingo, the second guy quit, took the company to court, the guy with leukemia played his tape, and the second guy got a $2-million dollar settlement. The leukemia guy retired, “nicely”, and is still doing fine after 15-yrs. Satan has been fired three times from three other places but he is still a VP at another well known company. May God pitty them.

Thanks for letting me vent,….. It’s been a long time.
 
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i had to give you a star HS. That is real life you posted! Bless you for your ethically sensitive mind! I wish there were more managers such as yourself. Great job sir!!!
 
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"I'm not here to win any popularity contests."
No, I've never heard that said in real life, though I have worked for some who treated this as a guide to life. I guess I'm no different to anyone else in having met some pretty bloody minded people but only one could be described as a gorilla, or, if not a full grown gorilla, a pretty mean ape.
I guess the gorilla I knew never ever thought how other people saw him and could give a damn if he did.
But then, I have only known the non-virulent form; given to occasional outbursts, not a daily outpouring.
Actually, probably all the more shocking for that since I guess with a regular Gorilla you build up some ability to endure.
With the one I knew, (he was probably usually pretty well medicated I guess) his outbursts were unusual and therefore seemed pretty bloody to those of us not used to such behaviour.
There is a plus side to mergers and acquisitions though, and when it happened to our company, he was one of it's first victims and we all breathed easy for the first time in a long while.

JMW
 
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The other side of it, though, is people who are all about the popularity contest and wind up being ineffective managers because they're afraid of doing something that someone might not like.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376
 
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This is for all the Gorilla managers out there

YOU ALL NEED TO STOP YAPPING AND GET BACK TO WORK

I thought their voices needed to be heard too
 
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Perhaps there's a place for Gorilla managers, you know when all the employees are monkeys.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
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I'm surprised how much the tools used by gorilla managers are similar to those found in domestic violence. The methods of harassment, verbal abuse, threats, manipulation, intimidation and emotional control are pratically identical in psychological description. Domestic violence adds physical harm/assult and sexual harm/assult at the top whereas the Gorilla manager doesn't use these tools or uses them little.

The abusive techniques used by a bad boss in control of an employee are just so similar to an abusive partner relationship. I have seen a manager scream and shake his fist at an employee - something that would get a spouse or partner arrested immediately had it been in other than a business setting.
 
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gnomus, they are indeed very similar traits, my wife has worked in the domestic violence field and had a gorilla management in a more recent job and pointed out the similarities to me.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
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No, I am afraid you are incorrect. We are talking about managers who walk around beating their chest all day. Not, dirty South Americans hiding in the jungle preying on the innocent. Had you read the news article I posted, you would have seen they were talking about animals not freedom fighters! :)
 
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But it's true that gorilla management tends to lead to guerilla among the staff
 
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No, Ho Chi Minh was a guerrilla manager.

We are talking about Gorilla managers, the types that beat their chests etc.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
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