Gen Y Now: Millennials and the Evolution of Leadership, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER TENSTUDY YOUR GAME FILM: Knowing Personality Types

Mary, twenty-four, is happy with her new job but somewhat worried that her boss, Tim, doesn’t like her. He has never said that her work is poor nor has he ever criticized anything, but neither has he ever complimented her on her work. This makes her very nervous. More importantly, one morning she saw him in the elevator and he barely acknowledged her, only grunting a terse “Hello.” He generally strides through the office with a stern, preoccupied look on his face.

Tim always keeps his door closed and has never stopped by Mary’s office to talk. Furthermore, when she approached him to ask a few questions about a project, he seemed annoyed with her for worrying so much about the details. He kept cutting her off and twice changed the topic. Mary wishes Tim would just tell her what she is doing wrong and why he doesn’t like her. She doesn’t know how much more of this tension she can take.

What went wrong? The sad thing about our case study is that Tim actually does like Mary. He just doesn’t show his approval or acceptance in a way that Mary understands. Tim is a Baby Boomer who believes in minimal communication. He will let Mary know when something is wrong. If he doesn’t say anything, she is doing well. He would “call her on the carpet” when something is unacceptable, and he assumes Mary knows this. He never talks to his older employees, and they are fine with that.

Tim will only go to someone’s office if there is an urgent ...