University of Groningen
Dependent leaders Voorn, Bart
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Publication date: 2018
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Voorn, B. (2018). Dependent leaders: Role-specific challenges for middle managers. University of Groningen, SOM research school.
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This research was co-funded by Ahold Delhaize.
Published by: University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands Printed by: Ipskamp Drukkers B.V., Enschede, the Netherlands
ISBN: 978-94-034-0292-5 (printed book) ISBN: 978-94-034-0291-8 (e-book) © 2017 Bart Voorn
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Dependent Leaders
Role-Specific Challenges for Middle Managers
PhD thesis
to obtain the degree of PhD at the University of Groningen
on the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. dr. E. Sterken
and in accordance with the decision by the College of Deans. This thesis will be defended in public on Thursday 11 January 2018 at 14:30 hours
by
Bart Cornelis Martinus Voorn
born on 25 February 1985 Vleuten de Meern, the Netherlands
2
Supervisors
Prof. J.I. Stoker Prof. F. Walter
Assessment committee
Prof. E.W. McLaughlin Prof. O. Janssen Prof. A.C. Homan
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Preface 13
Chapter 1 17
General introduction
Chapter 2 31
Dependency on the Superior: The Dual Leadership Challenge
Chapter 3 63
Dependency on Assigned Objectives: The Goal Challenge
Chapter 4 95
Job Tenure, Age, and Leadership Behavior: The Career Challenge
Chapter 5 125
General discussion
References 147
Summary 199
14
“It is now November and I still love it. I utterly love it. The dynamics in this job are vivid, challenging, and changing every day. Running a retail store with 180 people and annual sales of more than 12 million euros has revealed major and unexpected new insights for me. First, this middle manager position is inherently characterized by antilogy. On the one hand, the realization that I am part of a system, an extremely efficient—almost military—machine that is organized in such a way that it executes a business model optimally, is inevitable. On the other hand, I feel the joy of autonomy, of shaping my direct surroundings, prioritizing and influencing on a local level. Swinging back and forth between accepting the fact that within this position I indeed have no direct impact on a regional or national brand strategy, but that I can make decisions that directly impact the lives of employees and customers makes me wonder: could I accept tenure in a position as middle manager? Would I be able to reach my full potential, adhere to my values, drives, emotions, and let my environment grow? Or would such a position be tantamount to bitterness, constraint, frustration, and imminent disaster of all I value by getting “Les Main Sales” in the long run?
Secondly, I realize this is an environment in which I feel comfortable— maybe even too much so. Sometimes, I pretentiously (hope to) feel like the Tolstoyan Konstantin Levin, thriving on the honest, realistic attractiveness of work. In Anna Karenina, Tolstoy writes: “The longer Levin mowed, the more often he felt the moments of unconsciousness in which it seemed that the scythe was mowing by itself, a body full of life and consciousness of its own, and as though by magic, without thinking of it, the work turned out regular and precise by itself. These were the most blissful moments.” The interaction with the team leaders, my manager, customers, and employees has proved to be exactly as blissful as mowing. Natural, predictable yet surprising, soothing, it feels like I’m on auto-pilot. It seems no surprise that over the last weeks I have forgotten to eat, to go home, and have ended up spending many hours on end at the store. This environment embodies honesty and I sometimes feel like it is the epitome of friendliness in society, almost like a cocoon.
15 PREFACE
Lastly, the days in this micro-society have already taught me to recognize and value the challenges middle managers face. They are constantly maintaining a precarious balancing act. Some of their challenges are ethical and very tangible; others are relational or even personal. For example, this week I found M in the office, who has worked for the organization for 20 years. M told me he is in a hard personal situation, including a divorce, financial problems, and two sons he can barely feed. He asked me to allow him to permanently work more hours, which would imply a new contract. However, due to his tenure, M is quite an expensive member of the workforce, and there is currently no need or demand for extra hands. Moreover, the role M has might disappear in the near future due to automation. Hence, a new contract with M would impact the profitability of my store, which is one of my concerns as an assistant manager, and would also give M a false sense of security. A tough dilemma. Or take the challenge of another middle manager, who hoped to be promoted to a new region but was not selected for the position and now probably has to manage his store in a rural area for a few additional years. I just keep wondering: how will he stay motivated? I don’t think I could do it. I do realize that in the end, my career perspectives might be different, and I sincerely hope that does not bias my opinion too strongly, but I feel my experiences here in this store are already extremely valuable. I do not feel like an anthropologist, or the participative observer; it just feels like I am an assistant store manager. And I feel the experience shapes my moral compass, my personality, but also the content of my PhD dissertation, since these experiences put the knowledge I am gathering through my research in a different perspective.” 1
1 Extract from the author’s notebook, November 2013. The author spent six months in the role of middle manager during his PhD research.
