Ben the Brothel Bouncer and the need to call a spade a spade

Some people are managers almost from birth, some followers. Which is not to assume either subservience or inferiority on the part of the followers. Many people, over the last couple of decades, got shoved into leadership roles because companies developed an ‘up or out’ theory.

The word “manager” went out of fashion during the boom years. Team Leaders replaced Managers, and Employees became Associates. Whereas Managers could tell Employees what to do, Team Leaders couldn’t tell Associates what to do. Perish the thought. Them days was gone.

Now that we were into the 21st century, it was all about “buy-in.” Instead of telling someone to move a flex from where it was likely to trip three other people, as a Manager would, a Team Leader typically gathered members of the team around to achieve “buy-in” to the notion of flex-shifting. A really good Team Leader would work out a way to convince members of the team that they’d come up with the idea to move the flex all by their little selves, to raise their self-esteem.