“She’s the Anti-Midas, Everything Turns to Crap”: Evocative Metaphors Managers and Employees Use to Describe Managerial Attempts at Enacting Leadership

Abstract

Although meta-analyses provide clear evidence of which leader behaviors result in outcomes such as employee performance, commitment, and intent to leave, qualitative approaches are necessary to understand how managers perceive and enact their roles in situ. In this mixed methods study, in-depth interviews with managers are considered in tandem with open-ended responses from managers. By soliciting metaphors from both managers and members, we can better exemplify the interdependent nature of this relationship. Data indicate metaphors describe powerful, empowered, or powerless managers, where these categories are then mapped and put into conversation with classic and contemporary approaches to enacting leadership. Findings help to explain the perceptual gap often reported between leaders and members, and pragmatic findings are offered for employees of all ranks and HR managers.