A manager in title only

It has been said you don't leave jobs, you leave managers - in my case, how true it is. Henry Mintzberg once stated "managers not MBAs" are required, we are teaching the wrong skills to the wrong people. In my case, my manager lacks the pre-requisite and necessary communication skills, lassiz faire combined with the avoidance of important issues and conflict does not translate into leadership nor does it constitute a management style.

While Mintzberg does not say we don't need MBAs, he believes we should differentiate business and management as they are totally different skill sets. What he says is the average MBA candidate lacks the people management skills honed through actual experience.

In my case, the manager has plenty of experience, insofar as, he has been there too long and he has a title but that is about it. So where does that leave us? Shuffling funds around a spreadsheet does not constitute good management practice, we need a holistic approach to management.

Yes, managerial accounting is important and must not be discounted, but if that was all that was needed to run an organisation, universities would be pumping out accountants en mass only. This is not the case as the subjects of leadership, management, human resources, ethics, globalisation, sustainability, marketing and operations are taught together with accounting, analysis and finance.

A balance of capabilities is required; this is not what I am seeing in my workplace. All I see is a guy who has inherited a highly capable portfolio, has failed to invest in physical resources and human capital and diverts funds out redirecting to divisional revenue to enhance his personal reputation whilst penalising the efforts of highly efficient workers. 

These funds prop up inefficient business portfolios, the question is, why not re-engineer the inefficient portfolios to become self-sufficient instead providing disincentives for efficiency and rewarding inefficiency. Ambition is good, business is a team game and the principles of inclusion and team-building should dictate strategic direction.