1.

DISSATISFACTIONS AND FRUSTRATION OF LEADERS

Discuss any four dissatisfactions of managers?
Many individual contributors refuse to accept a leadership role because of
the frustrations they have seen leaders endure.
These frustrations include the following:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.

Too much uncompensated overtime

Too much organizational politics
Too many headaches
Too many problems involving people
Not enough authority
Loneliness
The pursuit of conflicting goals

I.

II.

III.

Too much uncompensated overtime

Leaders are usually expected to work longer hours than other employees.
Such unpaid hours are called casual overtime.
For Example: Leaders typically spend fifty five working hours per week.
During peak period of peak demands, this figure can surge to eighty
working hours per week.
Too much organizational politics
People at all levels of an organization, from the office assistant to the
chairperson of the board, must be aware of political factors.
Yet Leaders can avoid politics more easily as an individual contributor.
For Example: Leaders engage in political byplay from three directions:
below, sideways and upward.
Political tactics such as forming alliances and coalitions are a necessary part
of a leaders role.
Too many headaches
It would take several pages to list all the potential problems leader face.
Being a leader is a good way to discover the validity of Murphys Law: if
anything can go wrong, it will.
A leader is subject to a batch of problems involving people and things.
Many people find that a leadership position is a source of stress and many
managers experience burnout (exhaustion).

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IV.

Too many problems involving people

A major frustration facing a leader is the number of human resource
problems requiring action.
The lower leadership position, the more such problems leaders face.
For example, the office supervisor spends more time dealing with
problematic employees than does the chief information officer.

V.

Not enough authority

Leaders are held responsible for things over which they have little control.
For Example: Leaders might be expected to work with an ill-performing
team member with lacking the power to fire him or her.
Or Leaders expected to produce high quality service with too small staff
and no authority to become fully staffed.

VI.

Loneliness
As secretary of State and former five-star general Colin Powell says,
Command is lonely.
The higher you rise as a leader, the lonelier you will be in a certain sense
because Leadership limits the number of people in who you can confide.
It is awkward to confide (disclose) negative feelings about your employer to
a team member.
It is equally awkward to complain about one group member to another.
Some people in leadership position feel because they miss being one of
the gang.

VII.

The pursuit of conflicting goals

A major challenge, leaders face is to navigate among conflicting goals.
The central theme of these dilemmas is attempting to grant others the
authority to act independently, yet still getting them aligned or pulling
together for a common purpose.

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