How to Be a Good Manager in a Bad Organization

I used to work for the best company in the world. It was, in fact, where I learned to manage.

They had all kinds of problems. They made mistakes, and they were annoyingly bureaucratic. But I was okay with all of that because I knew that at the end of the day, the company cared about me. They cared about people.

It was, in fact, comparatively easy to be a manager in such an organization. The corporate culture fit with my own goals as a manager and I was able to complete projects and take care of people.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself in quite a different situation. My company had been purchased by an investment equity firm and the pressure to perform was immense. I found myself in conversations with superiors about the need to say no more, to be the bad guy. To be, in short, a jerk. At first I went along, not wanting to disappoint management. But I stopped short at making unreasonable demands of my people, though we worked long hours and did our best to do the impossible.

Someone once told me that no matter what kind of company you work for, you have the ability to control the culture and environment that your employees work in. When you are told that your team is failing to meet expectations and you'd better shape up or ship out, you can blame your people and yell and scream at them until they feel just as bad as you. Or you can calmly create and execute a plan to improve, soliciting help from your employees and explaining the difficult situation you are in.

In Man's Search for Meaning, psychologist Victor Frankl described what he called, "the last human freedom." As a concentration camp detainee in World War II, Frankl observed men in the absolute worst of states. Walking skeletons living in hell. Interesting, then, that some of the dying men freely gave their meager crusts of bread to others even worse off than they were. The last human freedom is to choose how you will respond. You can react to the stimulus and be ruled by anger, anxiety and negativity, making others around you as miserable as you are. Or you can rise above.

No matter where you work, no matter who you are, you always have a choice. To be a good manager in a bad organization requires a significant personal effort and it is a daily struggle, but it can lead to change. Norman Schwarzkopf, head of the coalition forces in the first Iraq War, served three tours of duty in Vietnam. His third trip was voluntary. He knew by that point that the war could not be won, but as an experienced leader he felt that his presence in Vietnam might help a few boys get home who wouldn't have made it otherwise.

After Vietnam, the United States army was demoralized. Schwarzkopf found himself in a difficult environment and strongly considered leaving the army. He decided, however, to remain and try to make a difference as he gained knowledge and influence. The success of the Gulf War is indicative of the successful change that Schwarzkopf and others engineered. He stayed in a bad organization and worked to make it better.

It is possible to be a good manager in a bad organization. It will test what you are made of, but you may be the key to a company's changing for the better. It is certainly easier to work in a good organization, but your impact on a bad organization can make a much greater difference.