The Four Ms of Management and Leadership

Today's post aims to take a look at what I've dubbed as the Four Ms of Leadership or Management. It stars an unlikely cast of characters that runs us from fifteenth century Italy, through sixteenth century Germany with a giant leap into the 1970s and 1990s in the United States. The cast was selected as icons largely due to their styles. There was absolutely no science involved in this effort, nor do I really know what I'm talking about.

The Four Ms are presented in linear order based on severity of the impact on those they are managing or leading.

Machiavelli, author of The Prince and chancellor of Florence in the mid-1500s, has spurned a type of ruling/management/leadership which bares his name. According to some random website I found, "An ideal Machiavellian rule is in one in which the ruler is both loved and feared. Since this position is nearly impossible to attain, the wise ruler should choose to be feared rather than loved. A ruler who chooses to be feared rather than loved is usually interpreted as an evil ruler."

We've all met this person. The best example I've got in my own life is a VP at a school I once worked at who would regularly yell and bang his fist on the table in meetings, demanding actions from his subordinates (and sometimes from people who were his equals). This created an atmosphere where he sometimes decreed absolutely ridiculous things that were brought to fruition simply because nobody could tell him no. It also resulted in lots of hurt feelings, disrespect, and general hatred of him across campus. I believe he knew all this and didn't care. I think he liked it. He was a classic Machiavellian example.


Melrose Place, that iconic television show from the 1990s is our second M. It involves trickery, general messing-with, lying, cheating, rumor-creating, and some low-grade meanness that sometimes masquerades as sincerity and care. There is always a caution around those who employ the Melrose Place model of management or leadership because you can never trust the person's actions or words. They might be sarcastic. They might tell someone something about you that you told them in confidence. They might set you up to fail. You never really know what might happen.

Most people hope they've left this one back in high school, but it's never that easy. We often find this in the workplace, especially when someone is threatened by us. We also might find this when the manager/leader has no real power themselves, since they are controlled by those above them, so they have no choice but to mess with those below them. Our guest post generator self-identifies within this category because as a public servant, he often finds himself in situations where messing with someone is the only option to get them to respond to direction and within his sector, largely filled with men, this is an acceptable option. He only uses this method with those who are sort of stupid (or at least acting stupid) and/or those who just flat-out deserve to be messed with.

Maude, of 1970's sitcom fame, appears in the third slot as an M. (This, by the way, gets the "Completely Random" award in our cast of characters, but stick with us.) Maude was groundbreaking when it hit the airwaves in 1972. Maude herself had already made history when she originally appeared as Edith Bunker's cousin on All in the Family because she was, according to Wikipedia, "a middle-aged, politically liberal, married woman living in suburbia, who embraced the tenets of women's liberation, always voted for Democratic Party candidates, strongly supported legal abortion, and advocated, albeit often clumsily, for civil rights and racial and gender equality."
She was blunt, to the point, and didn't really care who she upset by telling it like it was. But she was caring and loving and didn't alienate those around her with her.

This is my favorite type of management/leadership because it's the one I use. It fits my personality, gets results in the workplace, and earns me respect (more often than not). It has also resulted in misunderstandings and hurt feelings (of those who I've been too blunt with). It has led to my asking an employee who I was exasperated with "Do you think I'm magic? No. I got the information because I asked the right questions!" (That was a lowpoint in my career.) This style has allowed me to get to the bottom of problems quickly without alienating others. Our post generator sees this style as the compliment to his Melrose Placianism. He is blunt to a fault sometimes, even having recently asked a subordinate "Are you retarded?" (Granted, his workplace is the rare one that allows this type of question to be acceptable.) His use of this style allows him to call another subordinate recently and ask point blank for an answer for an unacceptable behavior, and when no satisfactory answer was provided, he said something along the lines of "You don't just do Behavior A. That sets both of us up to look like asses. It's unacceptable that you did it." And for the receiver of that information to have nothing to say.

Martin Luther had a distinct, moral belief system that required him to do what he believed right. He led with actions and written word in order to make the world around him a better place. After authoring the 95 Theses amongst other writings, he was brought forth to the general assembly of the Holy Roman Empire. After being asked if he was the author of the writings in question, which were inciting others to revolt against empire/church rule and whether he still stood by the content, he said, "Unless I shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear reason ... I neither can nor will make any retraction, since it is neither safe nor honourable to act against conscience." After a period of exile, he snuck back to continuing leading the Reformation. Again according to Wikipedia (which I'm allowed to use since this isn't a paper for class or my thesis), "For eight days in Lent, Luther preached eight sermons, which became known as the "Invocavit Sermons." In these sermons, he hammered home the primacy of core Christian values such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminded the citizens to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change. The effect of Luther’s intervention was instantaneous. After the sixth sermon, Jerome Schurf wrote to the elector: 'Oh, what joy has Dr. Martin’s return spread among us! His words, through divine mercy, are bringing back every day misguided people into the way of the truth.'"

It is rare, these days, to find these leaders. But they are out there. These are the people who are thoughtful, and lead/manage with what's right and people's feelings equally in check. They are the ones who may appear weak to those who prescribe to one of the other three Ms, but who probably, albeit slowly and over time, make a real difference in a company, an organization or a school. They rule from love and care. I wish sometimes that I could employ more of this style in my work. Eisenhower once said: “You don't lead by hitting people over the head-that's assault, not leadership.” These people live by this.

There you have it. The Four Ms of leadership/management. I have a very strong feeling that this isn't making it into the mainstream leadership theory books anytime soon, but it was fun to think about and research. Which style are you?

She's from Boston

There is apparently a song, by Kenny Chesney, released way back in 2006 entitled "She's From Boston."

Here's a sampling of the lyrics:

She comes from Boston
Works at the jewelry store
Down in the harbor
Where the ferries come to shore
She never really knew how good it would feel
To finally find herself in a place so warm and real

She wears a Red Sox cap
To hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England
is different now and then
In all the local bars
She flirts and tells the boys while they're talkin'
She's from Boston

Click here for the whole song.

The question is (as posed by our new post-idea-developer) why we in Boston don't play this song. Couldn't it cross over? Isn't it sort of reggae-ish? Why haven't we heard of it? I, who am obsessed with all things Boston and who actually lived the beach-living, boy-flirtin', talkin' about Boston on the beach, barefoot life? The Idea-Man, who owns more music than anyone I've ever met, is obsessed with Sirius and has generally heard of everything musical?

How did this happen? Now, I can see that this song, which I've finally found online for free and am listening to right now, isn't played in your average bar in Boston, because it is sort of country-ish, and we like to be very clear that we don't like the country music here in merry old New England. But, the Barking Crab on a hot July afternoon after work? This song is ripe for that. Any bar in Fanueil Hall on a Saturday night around closing time? Come on! It sounds a lot like Jimmy Buffett!

How is it that I can sing every word to Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" when it's on the radio? We allowed that to cross over and not this? Blasphemy!

Of course, I of the self-proclaimed pop culture knowledge said today, "Kenny Chesney is the one that started the fight with the Dixie Chicks back when they said that thing about Texas!" thus ruining this song for Mr. Idea Developer. (Personally, I think he was overreacting, but who am I?) Come to find out, tonight, it was NOT Kenny Chesney who fought with the Dixie Kick-Ass Chicks, it was Toby Keith. (Well, sorry that I can't keep my white, middle-America 30/40something country singers straight. I personally think this is a point of pride.) So the song is not ruined. For the record, I did know that Kenny was the one who was married to Renee Zellweger for about a minute and a half.

Now that I've listened to it about 5 times straight while writing this, I have to say it's making my feet itch. My feet itch regularly, but this line in particular is doing it to me: She tries to explain to them / That education and occupation will have to wait for now / She loves the Rasta, reggae rhythms, her dreams have changed somehow. Man, I remember that. I felt that. I lived it. I still think it. I still think about chucking it all in and heading down to St. Thomas or Kitts or wherever and just living the life.

I highly recommend a listen. It's downloadable for free here, only took a sec to download the Rhapsody player.

Scrub a dub dub

(this post idea comes from our new guest "post developer", who has declared himself perfect for this position, not that there was an opening.)

Public laundry rooms. Laundry rooms in the basement of your triple-decker house in the city. The laundromat. Everyone's had one or more of these in their lives at some point or another.

Thoughts about laundry rooms/laundromats: (in no particular order)

1. Laundry Cards: Some are equipped with these very convienent cards, allowing you to put money on an account and swipe the card in place of having quarters on hand. I've never had that luxury, having gone to college long before the introduction of such technology and having never lived in a swank building. I imagine it's great, as I spent 20 minutes Friday night on my way home stopping into stores and coffee shops begging for a couple dollars in change so I could do laundry when I got home.

2. Lint: Why don't people clean out the damn lint trap? Laziness? Lack of education? (My brother reached the ripe old age of about 25 before he even knew there was any such a thing in a dryer, so this is possible.) Whatever causes this breakdown, it means that the rest of us have to come along and clean your lint out of the trap before we can even begin, lest we start a fire or end up with wet clothes after spending a buck seventy-five in hard begged quarters. Now granted, it's clean lint, but the amount of hair trapped in there with it is extremely disconcerting.

2. Detergent: In shared laundry rooms in smaller houses, people generally leave their detergent on the table or the floor or wherever. This is convienent for people like me, who come along and steal some, since I keep forgetting to buy my own. In those situations where you have to bring it with you, this limits your choices, since the most economical version tends to be that giant tub with the little cup you place under the push button. No hauling that thing around. The suggester of this post is a proud supporter of Mrs. Meyers products, which are natural and expensive and don't leave an unnatural smell and come in convienently small bottles, perfect for hauling around. That's a good thing, because for $11.99 a bottle, you wouldn't want some lowlife thief like me helping themselves.

3. Touching other people's clothes: The rules are definitely not clear on this front. In college, everyone did it. You arrive to a full washer and want to use it? Pull out her clothes, leave them on top of the dryer and carry on. Does this rule apply in a public laundromat where the owner might be right there, but is just lost in the Telemundo soap on the 12 inch TV? Does this rule apply in the house laundry room where there's only 5 occupants total in the house and you can probably figure out who owns the skanky royal blue lace thongs?

4. Claiming the carts: This one applies to laundromats. You know those cart things with the rack on top for hanging stuff? Do you get to claim those and hang on to them for 2 hours until your clothes are ready? I think not. Tell that to those living in rural Gettysburg. They didn't know that.

5. Children: Keep them under control. This is not a playroom. And on a busy Saturday, 15 children running amongst the 20 adults, 30 machines and cars in the parking lot is not cool. It's a hazard.

6. Timing: Are there rules about times that it is appropriate to do laundry? If so, adhere to them. In K & C's house, nobody is supposed to do laundry before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. I personally think that's a little tight reigned, and would advocate for before 7 or after 10, but whatever the rules, follow them. It's so the poor bastids on the first floor don't get rocked out of sleep at 2 a.m. by a spin cycle or your 22 cents in the agitator.

Got any laundry pet-peeves? Let me know!

I'm an addict

It's official. I'm a Netflix addict.

I've had a movie problem for quite a while now, and I've admitted that freely. I love films, I love going to the theatre, and I keep up with all the news. Entertainment Weekly continues to be my bible (or one of them, anyway).

For my birthday, I received a 2-at-a-time 12-month subscription to Netflix. What a gift! (Major points go out to the giver, he knows who he is.) For those of you still really far behind, the way it works is this: you set up your queue and put movies in it. You place them in the order you wish to receive them. Netflix sends you the top film. When you are done watching it, you put it in the freebie return mailer and put it in the mail. They get it the next day and send you the next one on your list, which you receive the day after that. With a 2-at-a-time subscription, you have two of these little cycles running, so you usually have a movie at your house. It couldn't be easier. You can switch around your queue anytime, too, so if you were supposed to get something all serious and decided that afternoon that you'd had a shitty day and want Borat instead, go ahead it and put it on the top! Easy!

My subscription also comes with unlimited "Instant" watching. This includes some films that I can download instantly to my PC and watch them on demand. There are about 7000 options for this. New stuff isn't usually available in this option, but so far, I've always been able to find something that looks interesting. Girl 27, a documentary I never heard of about a girl who sued MGM Studios in the 30s, was really cool. I never would've otherwise watched that.

I've been off TV more or less for the better part of a year. Besides Amazing Race, Grey's and Lost, I never turn it on. Now I have even less reason to, since I can just jump into bed, click on the computer and watch either the DVD that arrived in my mailbox that day or download! It's seriously addicting. And since it was a gift, it feels like it's free, which psychologically is pretty damn cool.

Since February 6 when I got my first film in the mail, I've watched 12 movies on disc. I've also watched 7 "Instantly". In 4 weeks! Holy cow. I just looked that up on my Netflix account since they keep track of it all, and that's crazy. 19 movies in 28 days. I think by the end of this 12-month subscription, I'll either need a 12-step program to give it up or I'll have to start paying for it. I think I already know the answer to that one.