Seagull manager

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Seagull Manager is a term first dating back to an 1988 Marketing article by Michael Madison, used to describe a management style of interacting with employees only when a problem arises, making hasty decisions about things they have little understanding of, then leaving others to deal with the mess they leave behind.[1]

The term was popularized by Ken Blanchard in his 1999 book Leadership and the One Minute Manager (ISBN 0-688-03969-3) by the following joke: "Seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, then fly out." (p. 38)

[edit] The Future of Seagull Management

The term Seagull Manager has gained popularity in the workplace in recent years as companies flatten their corporate structure in response to the competitive changes created by new technology, industry regulation, and expanding global trade. The result is a gutting of management layers where the remaining managers are left with more autonomy, responsibility, and more people to manage, meaning they have less time and less accountability for focusing on the primary purpose of their position—managing people.

Much of the aforementioned interest has led to a new book on seagull management, Squawk! by Dr. Travis R. Bradberry, which will be published by Collins Business in the Fall of 2008. Forthcoming information is available on the book's website The Seagull Manager.