Czaro Strategic Communications

In my last post, I described the characteristics of the “seagull manager” who flies in, makes a lot of noise, dumps on everyone, then flies away.

If you ever find yourself working for a seagull manager (SM), you have to learn how to cope to be able to survive.

• Be attentive. Listen to what the SM has to say. Take good notes, so it appears you are paying close attention. Once my SM actually said, “Why aren’t you writing any of this down?” I don’t think the SM bought that I was “memorizing every word.” Active listening is essential.
• Buy time. Before the SM flies off, state that they’ve given you a lot of great ideas. Pick a realistic time that you can have a plan scratched out and say “If I skip lunch and work on this tonight, I can have something first thing in the morning. Does that work for you?” This gives you some wiggle room to do your best and demonstrates that you think the SM’s idea is important enough to sacrifice your mealtime (not that you’ll even have to). If you lead with, “When do you need this?” you’re likely to hear, “Yesterday!”
• Regroup. After the SM leaves, it’s time to build the action plan. Start with research before moving on to goals, strategies and tactics. Where you can, work in some redeeming elements from the SM’s suggestions. Then you’re ready to present the plan.
• Stand up for yourself. When you make the pitch it’s possible the SM won’t be able to recognize their suggestions, since they probably didn’t know what they were talking about anyway. If the SM asks where their contributions are, state that “You had a some great suggestions, and by combining them with these other elements we’ll achieve the maximum ROI.”
• Butter and honey. SMs like to hear that they had great ideas (especially if they had no idea what they were suggesting.). By demonstrating that their idea gave way to something bigger, their ego will get a stroke and you’re plan will be accepted. In the end the SM wants to be successful – and they’ll probably take credit for the entire plan anyway.
• Get some wings. Not to become a SM yourself. Grab your box and fly away from that job as quickly as possible.

What seagull manager nightmares have you experienced?