The actor who played Dr Who (Christopher Eccleston) was asked whether he preferred playing heroes rather than villains. He replied that acting was all about finding the hero in the villain and the villain in the hero. Management is also about heroes and villains. The manager cutting services, increasing workloads and making people redundant is often seen as a villain. The same manager champions equal opportunities, upholds professional values, challenges bad practise and inspires staff. So if you are a manager who is asked to play the villain then the bad guy you will be but you need to find the hero within the role. You may be carrying out unpopular decisions but only a pantomime villain would judge success by the volume of boos. Being a hero doesn’t involve a big dramatic show of defiance “ the manager who resigned rather than cut services” it involves struggling on day in day out just trying to make a difference in a thousand little ways that go unnoticed by the majority.
Blair McPherson author of Equipping managers for an uncertain future and People management in a harsh financial climate both published by www.russellhouse.co.uk