What's wrong with being an xNTJ, anyway?

[Enyo]

At every job that I've ever had (which has always been or lead to managerial/supervisory positions), my staff complains that I'm cold. I've actually been told that I'm efficient and goal-oriented to a fault.

If anything, more like Tuvok's precision and indifference to feelings with Seven of Nine's drive for perfection.

How on earth can anyone consider it difficult to report to someone who is blunt and clear in expectations? I mean, it's not like you ever wonder where you stand with this person.

I'm even willing to help you learn to meet my expectations if you don't meet them now. You can't possibly meet them if you don't have the tools to do it.

So, can someone explain to me where the complication is? Because I really don't get it.

[murkrow]

They want their mommy.

Most people have been so pampered by the succession of F authority figures they've encountered on their way through parenting and schooling that they've no clue how to value themselves according to the attainment of a decided goal and instead value themselves based on the perceived love of their masters.

The pain in the ass about this is that it might actually make it more efficient for you to rub their little noses whenever possible.

Hopefully you will soon find yourself in a position where you have an easily replaceable or self aware work force.

[runvardh]

You sound like someone I'd prefer to work for as long as I still was given time to eat and my time off doesn't get infringed on with out proper reason.

[Enyo]

Originally Posted by runvardh

You sound like someone I'd prefer to work for as long as I still was given time to eat and my time off doesn't get infringed on with out proper reason.

Heh. Breaks are yours. I try to give everyone the time off that they ask for.

The long and short of it is, I don't care *how* you do your job, as long as the results are what I'm looking for. (And not illegal, immoral, etc.)

And I can take "no" for an answer. (As in, if I ask you to do something, and you don't have the time to do it, then tell me.) But my staff is afraid to tell me no for some reason. I don't understand why when I ask a question, they don't want to give me an honest response.

Instead, they cry to *my* boss, who just undermined my authority by taking that department's side.

[substitute]

From my point of view? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Well, if I wanted to really nitpick, I could probably come up with a few minor irritations and bugbears, but I wouldn't so much say they were indicative of a fault in the xNTJ per se as much as just a clash with certain aspects of me that could just as easily have been the actual fault in question.

In general though, if it were the other way round and bosses had to audition and be interviewed before employees decided to work for them, I'd be giving my prospective bosses MBTI tests and favouritising the xNTJ's.

[MacGuffin]

Originally Posted by Enyo

The long and short of it is, I don't care *how* you do your job, as long as the results are what I'm looking for. (And not illegal, immoral, etc.)

You can be my boss.

Now fuck off, I'm on the internet doing "research"!

[reason]

Originally Posted by Enyo

So, can someone explain to me where the complication is? Because I really don't get it.

If a member of staff is asked 'what do you not like about your manager?' then they will feel obligated to respond in some manner, even if their complaint is only minor. In other words, even the best manager has some attribute that is weakest, and his/her staff will likely focus on that attribute when talking about their manager. I would not take it too seriously, unless such complaints were putting my job in danger.

[Enyo]

Originally Posted by reason

If a member of staff is asked 'what do you not like about your manager?' then they will feel obligated to respond in some manner, even if their complaint is only minor. In other words, even the best manager has some attribute that is weakest, and his/her staff will likely focus on that attribute when talking about their manager. I would not take it too seriously, unless such complaints were putting my job in danger.

Enough danger that I had that department pulled from my direction and given to another sales manager. I had 5 departments that I managed (I'm a sales manager), and now I only have 4.

Granted, they are giving that department to a manager with only 1 department, and that manager was the one who had to audit the department that I lost. My boss said that it should have never been in my department in the first place, especially since I don't even have the authorization to enter part of it.

And he's right. It never should have been my department. But it pisses me off that he removed it from me because of whining, rather than because it was a logical decision.

To me, he has just sent a message to the staff, and that message is "If you think Enyo is mean, cry to me, and I'll fix it so you don't have to listen to her anymore."

My job is a one year contract. I'm covering for someone who is on maternity leave. She is soft and gentle and cares about feelings more than productivity. I'm an NT, so I obviously do not. Once she comes back from mat leave, I'm done and hopefully going on a mat leave of my own.

I don't want to spend the next 11 months with people who need to whine behind my back because they don't have the balls to say it to my face and maybe bring about the changes that they'd like to see.

[reason]

Originally Posted by Enyo

I don't want to spend the next 11 months with people who need to whine behind my back because they don't have the balls to say it to my face and maybe bring about the changes that they'd like to see.

Have you considered that another manager might try a different approach, maybe one that works? You might not like the tools that you have to work with, but since they are the tools which you have been given, try to use them for what they are and not how you wish they were. If that is too much for you then I suggest that you either suck it up and stay the course, or look for alternative employment.

The decision to pull the department from you does not strike me as illogical, it makes a good deal of sense. The employees are not slaves and need to be kept happy, or else valuable skills will bleed from the company and perhaps land in the seats of competitors. The company has no special obligation to you, especially when you upset other employees, whether by intent or not.

The irony, of course, is that you are now here to whine to us about those who whine about you: they're too soft and sensitive, whereas you're too hard and cold. I would guess that according to each other's expectations, both are true. An unfortunate situation, though not beyond repair by those big enough to step outside of their comfort zone, and by the sound of things that will have to be you or nobody.

However, given my vastly limited knowledge of your life and specific circumstances, I may be safely ignored. Good luck with whatever course of action your choose.

[runvardh]

LOL, I guess this is atypical of my type, but I always tell my boss what's wrong with what and why it should be done whatever way I figured out. I've had bosses who loved it, bosses who hated it, and bosses who were indifferent. Thankfully I only had one boss who hated it, but he was a lazy ass whom I learned to manipulate to maintain the hours I needed while still having some time to myself.

Actually, that department sounds like the day shift people whos work I used to deal with when I came in for night audit. After knowing what every shift was supposed to do and getting my ass kicked for not getting everything done I started making lists of things that were not done before I got there that should have been. It was a no no to insist that the teeny girls who did the 3 - 11 shift actually do their job instead of chatting all night, but I did it and nearly got fired for it. The manager tried talking the owners into letting him do it, but got reamed out for wanting to fire the best auditor on staff (gotta love retired accountants).