BUSINESS
May good management skills be with you What's your Star Wars management style? by Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano
Darth Vader Autocratic
Photo by CloudyPixel on Unsplash
Autocratic managers rarely take council from anyone else, and when they do, they only approve previously-laid plans. This management style used to be pretty popular back in the day, but current workplace practices have shifted to something less authoritative.
Managerial styles can be difficult to master, but with the right training on Dagobah
UAC MAGAZINE | FALL 2019
(or a quick self-assessment with help from this article), anything is possible.
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Finding the right management style makes it less likely you’ll walk into that board meeting announcing, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” And while Han Solo’s advice of, “Don’t get cocky” definitely applies, we’ve got good reason to believe that the Force, and good management skills, will always be with you. (So long as you’re not attempting to rule the galaxy.) Let’s take a look at the Star Wars Universe to determine who was the best boss in that galaxy far, far away.
You don’t become ruler of the Sith and the head honcho of the Galactic Empire without making a few enemies–or slaughtering hundreds of people with your lightsaber. Like Vader, autocratic managers rarely take council from anyone else, and when they do, they only approve previously-laid plans. Anything less than wholehearted support is met with serious consequences. Or, in Captain Lorth Needa’s case, a fatal Force-choke. Apology not accepted. This management style used to be pretty popular back in the day, but current workplace practices have shifted to something less authoritative. We can’t say we’re unhappy about it–we’re not interested in losing a hand. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Episode IV: A New Hope
Emperor Palpatine Darth Sidious Persuasive Persuasive managers are some of the sneakiest. While it appears they want to hear from others, they exert most of their energy attempting to show their subordinates why their own plan was the right one all along. This can work well if a leader allows others to ask them questions and offer suggestions, but Palpatine wasn’t known for that kind of merciful persuasion. Instead, he uses his power to manipulate the Galactic Senate, eventually securing his role as dictator. It’s a slippery slope from persuasive to autocratic, and it took less than two films for Palpatine to arrive at the bottom of it. “There is nothing I do not know. Nothing that is worth knowing, anyway.” Boba Fett: Pursuit
