Leadership Challenges: How Do You Handle an Overconfident but Incompetent Manager?

Dear Members, I request you to read through the following case study and provide us with your valuable suggestions.

Case Study: Leadership Challenges in Senior Management

One of the senior management personnel in X company is leading the company with below-average leadership skills. This is leading to heavy attrition as employees are unable to work under such an incompetent manager. This person has been in this position for a couple of years now but has not taken any initiative to develop his skills and personality, which is also negatively affecting the development of the company’s business.

Despite having many negative attributes and close to none positive ones, not even up to the level of an executive, this person is not affected by any feedback and believes that he is perfect while others are wrong. He gets too involved in micromanagement of the company instead of concentrating on sales growth and business goals.

Impact on Employee Morale and Recruitment

This person, on the other hand, knows how to impress the board of directors in order to keep his position in the company. The majority of employees and managers in charge of the company's departments are dissatisfied with reporting to this person since, despite his senior management position, he has no understanding of the core functions of any department to advise them. There have also been numerous occasions where potential candidates have declined to join the organization after having an interview with this individual because they recognized his incompetence during the interview and were unwilling to work under him.

Request for Guidance

I rely on your experience, expertise, and qualifications to help me understand how to deal with such employees who are overconfident in themselves and don’t see the ramifications of their incompetence at such a high level, which could have a significant negative influence on the company and business.

Dear Prathibha,

You have mentioned several times that "this person is incompetent." However, this is an inference. What led you to draw this inference is not known. You have not provided sufficient evidence of his actions.

For the time being, we will take at face value whatever you have written. However, if the person is occupying a chair with the blessings of the BoD, then nothing can be done. If the senior management personnel is the cause of the employee attrition, then it is the fault of the owners of this company who allow him to continue.

By the way, no amount of feedback to this person will work. This is because nobody can convert an arrogant person into a humble person. A desire for change should come from within. No amount of external goading works. Therefore, if someone approaches and tells you that personal coaching or NLP techniques will work in this case, it will be a wild goose chase.

This reminds me of a Nitishlok taught in school. It is:

"जैसे चित्त नर छिद्र जैसे उदक सिंधु साधु न सुधरे। जैसे चित्त गज कुंभ जैसे तिल वन्द्य विनु नंद्य ||"

Meaning: One cannot change the nature of a person by giving him advice or telling him good things. Just as water, when heated, after some time, returns to its normal temperature.

सुझाव: यदि आपके द्वारा दिया गया अनुसरण यदि असफल रहता है, तो इसका मुख्य कारण आपके द्वारा दिया गया सुझाव सही हो सकता है, और हमें इसे बार-बार प्रयास करना चाहिए।

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Mr. Dinesh,

Thank you for your valuable inputs. I would like to address your query on "why I have written several times that this person is incompetent."

Instances of Incompetence

A few instances to briefly explain:

1. This person holds a senior management position where department managers report to him. However, he seems to be clueless about the basic functions of any department and relies solely on the department managers to manage without his support.

2. When asked for expert advice, this person procrastinates and provides various excuses for not sharing his opinion from a management perspective.

3. He appears fearful of making decisions independently and consistently looks for reasons to pass the responsibility to others to avoid taking ownership.

4. Potential candidates shortlisted by department managers/HR managers often decline offers after the final interview with this person. They perceive limited career growth opportunities within a company led by such senior management personnel. Several senior position candidates have shared this feedback with the HR team, expressing their reservations about accepting offers or joining the company.

This individual lacks the attributes that employees typically admire in senior management personnel. The reasons mentioned above contribute to a highly negative work environment where employees feel they lack effective leadership and actively seek opportunities elsewhere.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Dear Mr. John, please note that this is not a case study for any course. This is an actual situation in one of the reputed companies, and the senior HR personnel of that company is seeking support from experts and consultants to deal with this situation. I hold a good position in Human Resources in an MNC company, and many HR colleagues from different companies are using various HR forums to provide some sort of solution for this colleague's dilemma. Hopefully, this clarifies your doubt.

Hi Pratibha,

Hope this will work for you!

Intellectual Intelligence vs. Emotional Intelligence

Currently, you are discussing two parameters of this individual: Intellectual Intelligence vs. Emotional Intelligence. This person, who is mistreating every employee around him, excels in stakeholder and client management (which is a strong sign of Emotional Intelligence). Therefore, no amount of anger, frustration, or feedback will work for him. It is evident that he lacks Intellectual Intelligence, which I personally believe is not currently necessary as he has already secured a good position in this company.

Solution: Whistleblower Group

Create a whistleblower group involving all core members of your organization. Educate and encourage members to report any malpractices, incidents, or issues related to this individual anonymously. Any whistleblower will remain anonymous throughout the investigation until the issue is addressed. If you receive emails, you can use them as a basis for discussion with the core committee members to proceed further.

If you do not receive any emails regarding any wrongdoing in the organization, specifically by him, consider accepting his personality with a pinch of salt and change your perspective towards him if you do not plan to change jobs soon. Alternatively, you can start exploring job options in the market and change jobs as soon as possible for your mental peace and sanity.

The entire post appears to reflect more of a disgruntled perspective than that of a person with depth and wisdom. The fact that he is in his position by the choice of management suggests that the management knows whom to keep where. The long list of judgmental statements only reflects and exposes that it is more of a personal view than a concrete, supported argument.

Problem of Adaptation

Is there a problem with you not adapting to the leadership because of personal grudges? It is difficult to imagine so many unproductive behaviors from a person firmly seated in such a high office. Are you assuming that you are better than the management in assessing this person? As someone mentioned in the replies, why not provide a solution as well? Personally, I feel there is a significant frequency mismatch from your side. You are focusing on so many negatives, yet not one positive aspect is mentioned by you.

Hi, It's a situation that my whole team is dealing with, but the sad part is the HR head knows what's happening in the department but is not interested in taking any action against him.

The Problematic Manager

That guy literally insults people in front of the group, blames his employees, and makes fake complaints about his colleagues to the Head of HR. More than 90% of his work is done by his team, and he doesn't even know how to make reports or present the data.

Serious Allegations

He sexually abuses female employees, and because of this, two female employees left the organization. Unfortunately, the Head of HR is aware of this abusive incident but has not taken any action. One day, the Manager took off his shoes and tried to hit a female employee. The female employee reported this incident to the Head of HR, but he has not done anything. The only reply we got from the Head of HR is "mere hath bandhe huai hai, I can't do anything."

Consequences

Well, last we heard that management will not do anything, so all old employees are looking for new jobs.

Regards,

Dear member, what you have written is horrible. However, within the ethical framework, there is no solution to handle this problem. To tide over the atrocious behavior of the senior, one has to break this framework of ethical conduct. But then the question is, who will do it?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar