"Flies in, screams, flies away": how to be a leader, not a seagull

[jisansorkar12]

Everyone talks about how to become a great leader, work using Agile and Scrum methods, engage and motivate the team. But today we will go the other way and tell you exactly what you shouldn't do: who is a seagull leader and why you shouldn't turn into this character.



The word "seagull" is not a joke or an insult to a manager you don't like. It denotes a type of behavior when a manager, invisible most of the time, suddenly appears only when problems arise, yells at everyone and just as suddenly disappears.

Just imagine: you are sitting on a summer veranda in a restaurant, there is a turkey whatsapp list bunch of delicious dishes on the table. Then a seagull flies in, starts screaming, flapping its wings, trying to steal the food, makes a mess and then quickly flies away. And you ask yourself: "What was that?" Managers can be the same kind of seagulls.

In general, the concept of "seagull manager" first appeared in Kenneth Blanchard's 1985 book "One Minute Management". At that time, it was just a joke about managers who, I quote, "fly in, make a lot of noise, shit on everyone, and fly away." The Western audience picked up the term: employees, and then HR managers, began to share their experience of working with such people. That's how the concept of seagull manager took hold.

How to recognize a seagull manager
Seagulls do not actively participate in the work process, but they intervene when something does not go according to plan. They do not inquire about how this or that task is going, do not monitor the results. But when a problem arises - for example, when deadlines are missed, resources and materials are lacking - they suddenly appear, find someone to blame, and fly away into the sunset.
Seagull doesn't understand the issue. Most often, the manager is not only not immersed in the processes, but also does not understand what the team is doing at all. Such a person cannot determine how much time needs to be planned for a project or what results can actually be achieved. But he can easily find the guilty.
Because the manager doesn't understand the topic, and the deadlines are tight and the problem needs to be solved, most often he either makes a hasty decision or keeps silent. He doesn't understand how to solve the problem, he doesn't have a plan on how to deal with it, so his job is to simply find the culprit within the team.
Seagulls motivate with the help of negative reinforcement, although it has long been noted that this method - keeping everyone in check - is harmful both for the team and for the leader and his nervous system.
They often criticize. Due to the lack of competence and understanding of tasks, if managers do not see good results and KPIs achieved, they immediately begin to criticize and get personal. It is, of course, a shame when indicators are not met. But it is better to calmly figure out what the reason is, rather than arrange a public debriefing.
Seagulls are often confused with micromanagers. However, the latter simply do not know how to delegate tasks, are afraid that employees will not cope or will do a bad job, so they either set simple tasks or control every step. The problem with micromanagement lies in mistrust, but managers become seagulls because of cognitive distortions: they are convinced that if you yell, everything will work. Just like mothers who, instead of talking to their children, prefer to yell, because children, in their opinion, only understand yelling.