Fire, ice & overall Nice: Recipe for a perfect boss
«He (Agrawal) is a really nice guy, but managers should not aim to be liked. What Twitter needs is a fire-breathing dragon, and Parag is not that,» Musk had said of the erstwhile CEO months before he bought the platform for $44 billion.
Fire-breathing Dragon
The concept of a fire-breathing dragon is an interesting one.
It brings to mind a fierce, take-no-prisoners type of leader who does whatever it takes to succeed. But most bosses agree that this type of leader is not sustainable.
«The most dangerous people in organisations are those who are incredibly successful but leave 1,000 dead bodies on the way while they succeed,» Wipro's Rishad Premji had said at an event last year.
Rashi Narang, founder of Heads Up For Tails, cautions such bosses may not value empathy.
Organisational Culture Plays a Role | page 6
«Such a manager probably does not believe that kindness, empathy and patience bring about quick as well as effective results.
They consider these traits to be a sign of 'weakness',» feels the founder of the Rs 140-crore pet products firm. With a get-the-job-done-at-any-cost approach, such a manager would probably not allow their teams to learn from failures, she says.
The idea of a fire-breathing dragon manager — characterised by an aggressive and directive method — is increasingly being challenged, says Vineeta Singh, co-founder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics.
