8 - Managerial life and forms of identity work

Summary

We have so far addressed managers’ views of themselves and what they do as managers – exercise leadership with some distinction – and shown that in practice they frequently deviate from this to some extent. The clarity of what they stand for and do, ideal as opposed to practice, is, as has been shown, not always the best. We will now intensify the discussion of the implications of this for identity. In the previous chapter, we dwelled on the importance of identity confirmation. Our managers’ strong dependence on this means, ironically, that they do not at all appear as the authentic natural leaders they often present themselves as. In this chapter we continue the critical scrutiny of the consequences when the world does not always fit together in the way we think it does. One might say that in the best of worlds, ideal and reality go hand in hand: our self-view and our actions are in harmony. But as we can see, this is far from always being the case – and the managers we have studied are by no means exceptions. Contradictions, inconsistencies and confusion characterize the work situation and experiences of many of our managers. Managerial work is controlled by many different, contradictory and to some extent fragmented forces such as, for example, different ideals and role expectations, the demands of the environment and their own interests and ambitions (Clarke et al. 2009; Jackall 1988; Watson 2001). Managerial work is not about a number of clearly defined tasks to be performed in good order (Mintzberg 2009; Tengblad 2012b). The more precise significance of being a manager thereby becomes uncertain and varies greatly according to the context in which it is to be exercised. But what happens to the managerial identity (self-view) and self-esteem in such contexts?

Managerial life is not just about leading others; managers themselves are subject to other people's attempts to control and regulate both managerial work and managerial identity (Sinclair 2011). This control is frequently experienced as frustrating, in the sense that it makes it more difficult to be a manager in the way desired. The personification of the managerial job and thereby the self-realization as a “natural” manager and leader is undermined.