In his book “Leaderhip and the One Minute Manager”, Ken Blanchard describes a quite common management style with: “Seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, crap on everyone and everything, then fly out leaving a big mess behind”. This seagull behavior can be found in all kind of roles and positions.
Think about the new Enterprise Architect joining a project or organization. One of the first things he / she does is talking down all achievements and point out minor details which eventually could be solved differently. But taking action is not the Enterprise Architect’s duty #sarcasm. A typical seagull.
Think about the new developer added to the project who focuses on trash talking other team members code instead of delivering. But helping fixing issues is not his / her task #sarcasm . A typical seagull too.
Think about the new CIO joining the company telling everybody how amator-stylish everything has been done. A lot of organizational changes are initiated. New routines and reports are established. Key personal is replaced. A new IT strategy is developed. But fixing concrete challenges and problems in the most important projects is not on the new CIO’s radar #sarcasm. A typical seagull.
So, whenever you join a new team, organization or project, remember rule #54: “Don’t be a seagull”. Don’t just fly in and be noisy, don’t crap on everything and everybody, don’t make a mess – but focus on delivering value and proof your competency.
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