Do you know there are three types of managers in our environment?

When this question was posed to me by a colleague of mine, I was baffled. I did not know what he was trying to discuss and also the very basis for this classification.

When I sought clarification, he responded with a direct answer. According to him the three types of managers are:

Type A managers:

Type A managers are managers who set stricter standards for themselves and loose standards for their subordinates.

Type B managers:

Type B managers are managers who set equal standards for themselves and for their subordinates

Type C managers:

Type C managers are managers who set loose standards for themselves and stricter standards for their subordinates.

I was taken aback by my colleague’s reasoned classification. I could not say anything – agree or disagree.

Immediately I tried to figure out which type I belonged to. Suddenly my conscience or inner voice came out with the answer that I am not a manager.

Am I not a manager? Well. I tried to find out why my inner voice responded like this.

My inner invoice tried to soothe me by saying that I do not manage people but I manage my work only.

I seemed to agree with this that I am basically a transaction oriented person and not a person oriented person. Normally I would not like to judge a person but definitely I would like to judge the quality of his / her work.

May be this approach only makes me to think or find out why or how a piece of work has to be done this way or that. A kind of research orientation. Some people mistake me for this to be an academic approach or exercise.

The next question from my colleague brought me back to the discussion. Which category of managers I like?

This time I came out with a prompt response.

I like managers who are very clear about what they do and what they expect out of their subordinates.  I like managers who do not change their expectation from their subordinates quite frequently.  I like managers who do not judge their subordinates on areas which have not been clearly spelt out before hand. I like managers who take their subordinates into confidence before making any changes in their expectations.

Do you agree?