Blair McPherson: Austerity has encouraged autocratic leadership

If I was still a council director, I would be a very ‘bad’ director.

The chief executive would be telling me my attitude was unhelpful, unprofessional and inappropriate.

Meanwhile, the trade union would be saying, “at last, a senior manager who is prepared to say how it is” – not that this would save me. The unwritten rule is that it is beholden on a senior manager to always be positive, whatever your private views. All too often these days, to express dissent is to be considered disloyal.

The ‘bad’ manager is overconcerned with the business case, has inflexible professional values, and is way too fond of referring to the equal opportunity policy or identifying contradictions between the latest directive and other directives. But what marks the ‘bad’ manager out from the simple incompetent is the unnecessary risks they take, such as asking an unwanted question.

Read the full article on the Local Government Chronicle website