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Management is typically a continuum of behaviors, ranging from “very bad on one side” to “very good on the other,” with most managers falling somewhere on the 50% side of “not so good.” (We know this via research.) Some of the common continuums you hear are “Micromanager” vs. “Provides autonomy manager,” but I’d argue the real continuum to focus on is “Control” (far one side) vs. “Cultivation” (far on the other side).
A control-driven manager, of which there are millions, focuses on exactly that: control. Get in your swim lane. Get in your pen. Do things as I say they are done. It absolutely triggers people to refer to this as slavery, because you’re getting paid for it, but it’s absolutely akin to modern slavery, yes. Am I saying working in a peon role at Proctor and Gamble is equivalent to being trafficked after you were abducted from a cruise ship? No. I am not saying that. But are there elements of restraint and emotional lashing when you’re under a control-based manager? Yes. Absolutely.
A cultivation-based manager, which sometimes you’ll hear as “growth mindset” or something, is someone who wants to make you better. There’s still a period of control where they want to see your aptitude and your areas of strength and need for growth, but after a while, there’s a degree of autonomy, and there’s some “stretch assignments” — which hopefully include some extra money too — and…
