As a leadership and organizational development advisor, I have the opportunity to see the inner workings and management styles of many types of organizations. Despite the variety I see, I find it fascinating that the overall attitude, productivity and level of customer service so consistently reflects the management style of a department, or even the entire organization.

Although bad managers rarely like to admit it, the self-esteem, teamwork ethic and productivity in their workplace are usually a reflection of the caliber of management in the organization.

I call this the "management mirror" theory. This management mirror theory has allowed me to correlate specific poor management styles with expected overall employee attitude and performance. If you want to hold up the mirror in your organization, here are just a few categories to consider.

Possible Management Mirror Evaluation Categories

• The Position Manager. Position managers tend to treat different employees with various degrees of respect depending on their position in the company. They usually talk down to inferiors and brown-nose superiors. The result is usually a disloyal and untrusting workforce that is unlikely to go the extra mile for the company, let alone create an atmosphere to nurture effective leadership development.

  Tip: Effective leadership does not rely on positions of authority.

• The Micro Manager. The micro manager wants to tell their employees what to do, how to do it and when to do it. They always want to know what everyone is doing and why they're doing it. The end result is a stressed out, stifled and uncreative workforce that is more worried about how its actions will be interpreted than how it can be more effective or productive. Individual initiative is rarely seen or expressed in this environment.

  Tip: Fear-based decisions yield less than optimal results.

• The Un-manager. The un-manager under-manages everything, including his or her time schedule. The hands-off work environment that results is best described as a number of little fortresses within a kingdom. Workers in this atmosphere tend to create their own job descriptions, styles, levels of acceptability and side projects. Interoffice competition is rampant and knowledge is hoarded.

  Tip: A team is a group of people with the same goals, who actively help each other achieve the goals.

• The Nearsighted Manager. The nearsighted manager is always operating in the reactive mode. Due to a lack of advanced planning, the workforce is always understaffed, overworked and running behind. Although this environment can create some sense of teamwork due to the "common enemy syndrome," which tends to be the “higher-ups” in the organization or the customers, it is rarely successful in the long term. The end result is poor customer service and low, if not consistent, productivity.
  

  Tip: Success often flows from developing the ability to respond rather than react.

Although there are many other poor management styles, types and correlating poor work environments in my management mirror theory, I would be remiss if this article didn't include my observations of the characteristics of the most powerful managers I've seen.

The Magic Manager 

I call this ultimate manager type the magic manager. 

• The Magic Manager. The magic manager uses invisible management techniques. This style is never obviously or overtly coercive, manipulative or authoritative. The magic manager is not unlike a good coach that recognizes the specific needs, fears, strengths, resources and diverse personalities of the players on the team and allows all of them to work within their "zones." The workforce is usually creative, yet focused. There's an atmosphere of individual achievement governed and nurtured by an esprit de corps. Productivity and customer service, both internal and external, are high priorities.

  Tip: Successful organizations deliberately set everyone up to succeed.

Although the management mirror isn't perfect, I've found it to be a valuable instrument for companies that are looking to identify employees or departments for reorganization or further, targeted development and training.

Keep in mind that bad managers rarely find the management mirror useful. This exception to the rule may best be explained by the German philosopher Schopenhauer, who said, 

"Works like this are as a mirror.  If a jackass looks in, you can't expect an angel to look out."

If you need someone objective to help you see what’s in your organization's management mirror, give Caruso Leadership a call.

Note: The tips in this article are part of my Success Strategies collection (Principles for Profit), available as a free tool on the Caruso Leadership website.

About the Author: Joe Caruso is a highly acclaimed author, keynote speaker and business advisor whose read on people trumps conventional wisdom. Joe applies his expertise in how the individual and collective mind functions to the context of the collective mind of an organization. Through his company Caruso Leadership, Joe helps leaders and organizations change the way they see themselves, and consequently, the way they think about markets, products and services.

You can connect with Caruso Leadership on LinkedIn or follow Joe on Twitter for his ongoing insights on leadership and success. 

© Joe Caruso and Caruso Leadership, 2016. Reprints available with permission.