7/23/2019 Rise and Fall of a Top Manager

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rise-and-fall-of-a-top-manager 1/1

1

     ●

   I  n  v  e  s   t  m  e  n   t   &   A   d  v   i  s  o  r  y

   G  u   i   d  e   2   0   0   8

     ●

Recently, several personalmanagerial earthquakeshave occurred in Slovakia.

After years of managingsubsidiaries or branches of multinational companies, all of asudden, some managers had toleave their seat as somebody elsereplaced them. Seemingly, nothingsignificant has changed for aglobal company.

But from the perspective of amanager who depends on success

and career growth, it is almostalways a personal failure - facingharsh and often previouslyunknown realities. For some it is arelief, but in particular forconservative top managers asudden change in workingconditions or adopting newworking methods may be a bigproblem.

The greatest problem faced bymany top managers isn’t the factthat they no longer have controlover companies to which theyhave devoted many years, but the

shock of realising that they arealone. It is not always easy to finda position or remunerationcomparable to their previousemployment status. On the labourmarket, they must compete withpeople returning from abroad, withrich experience and ability to adjusttheir financial requirements toSlovak reality.

Regardless of the type of position held, people copedifferently with sudden loss of work. In some, the new stressstimulates activity and

performance, whilst for others itcreates passivity and, on thecontrary, weakens their wholepersonality.

In our experience we meetvarious types of managerreactions:

One of them is the CirculatingManager who, with gloriouscapability and enthusiasm, charmshis future employer – they fill theposition of top manager, yet duringa relatively short period – within 1to 2 years, both their enthusiasmand glory fade away. Even we

wonder how such obvious job-hoppers and “limited” managersconvince their future employerabout their qualities. When themanager communicates directly

with headhunters who refuse toinclude them in the project,knowing that it is just another “trial-error” – the manager argues thatthey are merely project oriented.This is all right in case of an interimmanager, but in the case of astable top manager this “non-standard approach” makes oneseriously consider the humanqualities of such a person.

Another widespread managertype after the “fall” is the

Melancholic Manager. Asuccessful, sociable and charmingindividual gradually becomes asad introvert and fails to convincethose around them of theirprofessional qualities and the ‘firein their heart.’ Such managersbecome boring, cautious patronswho have a hard time convincingothers about their own value.Such managers lack motivationand often seek a position in thesector which they left and don’tsee or want to see, the positiveaspects of change which may

await them in a completelydifferent position.Very often, Flying Dutchmen

can be met at social events.Everybody knows them, they areremembered from the gloriousprior achievements during theircareers in companies, yet we donot know anything about themconcerning the present. They givethe impression of extremely busybusinesspeople who keep workingon endless projects and challengesalmost as if it were top secret.When you manage to meet them

in person and find out about theiractual situation, a sense of disillusion follows in many cases.

Yet entirely different, is theapproach of the “Manager –Predator” (in the positive sense of the word) who, although caughtoff guard by the change, are ableto adapt, pull themselves togetherquickly and put up a fight. Theyturn over a new leaf, consider theopportunities and go for it. Oftenin a completely different segmentthey can convince those aroundthem, not only of their

management experience but inparticular their potential to learnnew skills and techniques withoutstubbornly sticking to a fixed ideaof their uniqueness.

From the experience of headhunters who contact variouscategories and types of managerson a daily basis, we recommenda preventative strategy. Defendyourself against the “boss virus”beforehand. Practically, thismeans that you should knowyour own limitations and abilitiesand be able to view yourself without bias and ‘get over it’ witha smile. It is not necessary to holdthe top position at all costs.

Number 2 in a strong companymay also be a challenge; newprofessional tasks offer theopportunity to learn new things,develop and extend yourknowledge and abilities.

Waiting passively untilsomebody remembers a long-forgotten leader will not help, it isnecessary to move on the marketwith your eyes and ears wide-

open, and in particular to realisethat for your own healthy survivalit is desirable to stop beingdependent on the formeremployer as soon as possible.After all, the well known “out of sight, out of mind” mantraapplies also to employment. Noposition is given to a personforever. Hired work has itsbeginning, a certain cycle and,sooner or later, an end.

Everyone must find the

answer how to deal with suchsituation by themselves. But asJohn Donne said: “No man is anisland entire of itself; every man isa piece of the continent, a part of the main...”

PhDr. Blanka SCHELLINGOVÁPartner

 Arthur Hunt s.r.o. – HumanResources Consulting Company 

The Rise and Fall of a Top Manager