The cost of seagull management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to separate the leadership skills that get success from those that are inconsequential or harmful. Design/methodology/approach – More than 150,000 managers were studied through the online assessment of their skill in more than 30 competency areas against self‐reported, and company‐reported job performance. Findings – People may join companies, but they will leave bosses. No one influences an employee's morale and productivity more than his or her supervisor. It is that simple. Yet, as common as this knowledge may seem, it clearly has not been enough to change the way that managers and organizations treat people. Originality/value – The paper looks at the issue of seagull managers – and discusses the notion that every single manager is a seagull manager sometimes, in some situations, and with some people. The real challenge lies in understanding where seagull tendencies predominate, so that managers can fly higher and eradicate the negative influences of seagull behavior.