Thug management AKA coercive management is where the manager tells their subordinates what to do, usually with threats of punishment or adverse actions. We have all seen or heard about them. I, for one, had a thug manager when I was in the military.

I don’t use the word hate lightly, hate is one of those strong words like love too lightly used. Hate in this instance entailed a strong aversion coupled with desire that evil should befall Thug Manager.  All of Thug Manager’s subordinates wished evil upon him.

An example of his thuglike nature was how he would interact with groups of subordinates. First, the military has a very hierarchical rank system, one that is extremely transparent as rank is worn on the uniform. You know immediately if the person you are talking to you is higher, of equal, or lower ranking than you. There are rules of conduct for how to stand, talk, greet, and address people of different ranks. These rules of conduct are punishable by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which interesting enough in a combat zone include punishments up to death for most infractions, insubordination being one of these.

Now, I never felt compelled in the military to remind a subordinate of my rank or position, that is readily apparent.  If you are in charge, you are in charge and act like it. I never raised my voice or demeaned a subordinate, it was unecessary for the reasons listed above. I was secure enough as a leader, unlike Thug Manager.

Thug Manager would enter a room, single out a subordinate, invade their personal space, put them at the position of attention (imagine standing in one place with your hands at your side), and start a series of retorical questions that included:

“What rank am I?”

“Do you understand English”

“What part of what I am saying don’t you understand?”

“What have you done wrong that you aren’t telling me?”

“Are you stupid or just insubordinate?” ( I always liked that one myself)

This would include forcing all subordinates to do push-ups all the while his face turning deeper shades of purple with vein popping and spittle included.

The problem with Thug Management besides the extremely dehumanizing and demoralizing behavior is that high performing subordinates with any sense of self esteem rebel. Not an outright rebellion but a rebellion none the less. They push back. They do only what was specifically told and nothing more. They do whatever it takes to shut Thug Manager up or make them go away. They create their own priorities of work to procrastinate. They wish Thug Manager dead and spent a lot of time fantasizing about such acts. 

I used to walk around our office with five excuses for everything I was doing, not doing, or was worried about doing or not doing. I learned quickly to not divulge any extra information but to answer as succinctly as possible. No one volunteered for anything. Subordinates would band together and provide alibis for each other. There were many times where I would purposefully set the Thug Manager off, knowing it would send him into an apoplectic fit. That was the only method of fighting back I had.

Threats of punishment? Nope, threats get old after awhile. Once you are threatened and there is no follow through, it becomes an idle threat.

Threat of firing me? Please, I am begging you to fire me.

Unfortuntely, I couldn’t quit, it being the military and all. If I was in an at-will employment position, I would have quit after about two weeks. That’s the problem, high performers know they are exactly that and usually are quite marketable. Once all the people with self esteem are gone, what are you left with?    

The only thing that a Thug Manager has is being a thug. Subordinates quickly learn that their behavior  and performance has no impact on how they will be treated in the present or future. 

The worst part about the whole situation was that Thug Manager’s boss knew he was a thug and allowed the behavior to continue because our team met our performance goals. 

Dan Hall