Comment by doganugurlu
1 day ago
What does “tough but fair” mean?
If you’re fair, what function does being tough serve? Or does being fair allow tolerating the shortcoming that’s being tough?
An employee being tough - resilient, emotionally strong - sounds like a good idea. But manager being tough to reports? I fail to see the function/value.
They had high expectations (I suspect many here, would consider them “extreme”), and demanded that we take a great deal of accountability and responsibility. Not really big on micromanaging, but we were expected to deliver, with no excuses for failure.
If I showed that I could deliver, they would basically give me a “blank check,” for support, but I was expected to take this high level of trust seriously, and not abuse it. They wouldn’t second-guess my decisions.
They would assume that I knew what I was doing; which could be pretty scary, but I was also expected to ask for help, if I found myself over my head. They might be grumpy, but they’d give me the help. I did risk having the responsibility yanked, though.
Copping to my mistakes was expected. I was also expected to do so, in spite of possible dire consequences. If they found out about it after the fact, or if I tried to cover it up, things would go badly.
Throwing co-workers or employees under the bus was very bad. It pretty much destroyed your rep. Weasels did not do well.
High expectations, high trust, big support, a ton of agency, and really high standards on deliverables and transparency.
From what I read here, a lot of folks would have difficulty in that environment. I liked it, but it could be stressful.
Thanks for explaining.
> High expectations, high trust, big support, a ton of agency, and really high standards on deliverables and transparency.
This sounds like a utopia to me to be honest. I am not sure if I agree with your assessment about how many here would not be able to handle it. My concern is many here won’t be able to offer it. I would love this type of management.
It was Japanese management.
I loved the agency, but they could be brutal. I used to watch Japanese managers bring subordinates to tears.
They were gentler to me, but not that much gentler. I had the "privilege" of being in the "inner circle" of trust.
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