When the supervisee is in charge at work

[SongOfSapphire]

I did a search and found some discussion on this topic, but I'm curious for additional, fresh insight. What has been your experience or observation on this irl?

The irl situation that inspires me to wonder is where an SEE is the boss of an LSI. It hasn't gone super smoothly, and at this point (about 4 years after this arrangement began) the SEE has relegated the LSI to a different physical area so her desk and workspace is relatively distant from the SEE boss's office (before, the person in LSI's job worked in the space right next to SEE's office). It's interesting seeing this SEE in particular in this situation since her own boss for years was another LSI whom she both respected and found intimidating.

If you want more details on the situation I'm describing, ask away. If you have descriptions, details, and observations of your own, please do tell. I'm very curiuos about what happens when the socionics supervisee is officially in charge of the supervisor at work.

[Rebelondeck]

Sapphire,

Throughout my career, I have supervised/managed/directed multiple copies of every type, and as a manager, I came to realize that all supervisors are targets that can be shot at by every type. I have never had show-stopping, intertype-relation problems with staff but I tended to keep everybody pointed at the objectives and not at me. I know that some of my staff thought of me as deficient and didn't like my decisions but if I had let that bother me, I would not have been a very good supervisor. I like to say that I have been criticized by the best. When managers take work too personally is when conflict arises and intertype relations become an issue; and I point to mangers because they're the ones in control. Managers have to know which employees take their work personally and have issues, or don't like someone or something; and they have to know how to best employ all types of people (even the ones with demons) and team them with others, including supervisors with their own problems.......

a.k.a. I/O

[HotSauce]

Well - My boss is a textbook LSI. However, he is a "boss" only in name, because he doesn't actually understand what I do, or how I do it. I've tried explaining to him but he never truly understands. He was hired a year after I was and was kind of thrown into supervising me. Anyhoo - Many times the tables are turned and I have to explain to him how something works or I will provide something to other managers that he can't provide. He is extremely uncomfortable when this happens and usually tries to even the score by mentioning how I am late, how he saw my crooked parking job in the company lot, or how I need to wash my car.

Other times, he will walk in my office and write my official start time on my whiteboard. Then he will tap it with the dry erase marker. "8:30, Pennywell. 8:30". Whenever I have one-upped him (in his eyes) he will also sometimes call my name out across the office, making me get up and walk to him, and ask me an obvious question - framed in such a way where it sounds like I haven't been doing my job.

Sometimes I cc him on emails to other higher ups in the company. I'll receive "thanks, good job" from his colleagues. But he will reply to me only and suggest I correct my tone and word choices going forward, which I find insulting. I was writing emails just fine before he came along, but whatever.

LSIs will LSI.

[Rebelondeck]

HotSauce,

Many supervisors are incompetent and were put in their positions because of incompetence. However, people who are best at particular professions may not be thought of as good supervisors, especially when they try to what I call upwardly manage because then there is a risk that they may tend to micro-manage if put in superior positions. Supervision usually requires one to be smart like a fox, and not necessarily like an expert. LSI are not normally vengeful although they can be absolutely ruthless when they think that people are messing with their plans, and those thought of as interfering may never realize that there are real possibilities that they may be bureaucratically executed with proficiency. Even the most competent people should never think of themselves as irreplaceable so I would suggest caution.

a.k.a. I/O

[HotSauce]

I don't think I'm irreplaceable, but I am very confident in my ability to do what I do. I know he is not intending to micromanage me, it's the battle for power and I totally understand WHY he feels the need to level things out. However, if I get a request from a higher-up colleague I am not going to play dumb to make him look good. I'm going to rock it 100%, because that's why they hired me. He has no real reason to execute anything with me and would only be hurting himself if he did so, because then he would have to lead a new person on something he knows nothing about.

He's actually a nice guy, we small talk and have a laugh now and then - unless he feels like I know something he doesn't. When he comes and taps on my whiteboard I just defer and tell him OK. I know I need to keep things kosher.

[Rebelondeck]

HotSauce,

LSI can be somewhat like an accountant - detail oriented, plodding and relentless; your LSI probably looks at you very, very objectively. He likely wants to know every detail to assure himself that things are going according to plans, not because he wants glory or to be able to do what you do. He just wouldn't like it if he thought that details were being fed to others and withheld from him. If you are SEE, you should be able to easily determine what makes him tick and play him to your advantage without ruffling feathers. To him, managing you may be like herding cats; if you're unpredictable to him, he will be naturally uncomfortable so be a good fox in the hen house where egg production is paramount......

a.k.a. I/O