A string of obituaries over the past week have praised the late George Steinbrenner's will to win and willingness to spend money to improve the Yankees. But a few also touched on his caricatured-yet-oppressive management style.
With a role model in General George Patton, Mr. Steinbrenner managed by fear. He belittled players in the press and temper tantrums became regular fodder for the back pages of the New York tabloids. He second-guessed, micro-managed and eventually fired his managers 20 times in his first 23 years as owner. Other lower-level employees were likewise continually berated or fired for miscues as small as not getting a lunch order correct. He demanded perfection.
"George is the most charming guy in the world, a real Mr. Nice," Campbell Elliott, former president of American Ship Building Company, which Mr. Steinbrenner owned, told CNN. "But to work for him? George's attitude is that they're damn lucky to have a job -- and if they don't like the way he treats them, they can just get the hell out."
Alaina Love, the co-author of The Purpose Linked Organization, believes Mr. Steinbrenner's tirades, fear, intimidation and humiliation "robbed the game of its fun" for the players and likely resulted in many players not living up to their potential.
"In today's terminology, we might have labeled Steinbrenner a workplace bully," wrote Ms. Love in the On Leadership column in The Washington Post. "A primary foundational aspect of leadership is respect for those under your direction, a quality sorely absent in the Steinbrenner playbook."
Apologists point to Mr. Steinbrenner's winning drive and said that although he expected a lot, he also paid players excessively. Players also knew their owner would invest to put the team in a position to win.
"Steinbrenner bet big. He never spent small," Robert Boland, a professor of sports management at New York University, told Voice of America. "He always reinvested in the Yankee brand."
At the same time, countless tales of his generosity and impulsive charitable acts have come out over the last several days. Joel Weinberger, a professor of Psychology at Adelphi University, said it made Mr. Steinbrenner "a walking paradox." He eventually mended fences and helped many of those he fired or publicly berated, gave second or third chances to struggling players, and would take care of many of his former players long after their playing careers were over.
Writing in Huffington Post, Prof. Weinberger said the same personality characteristics that led to his oafish "Boss" behavior also fed those charitable acts. Fueled by his emotions, he acting impulsively -- good and bad -- without reflection. With a need to "be in charge," he demanded perfection from employees but also had a paternalistic, caring side. Ultimately, Prof. Weinberger said, winning conquered all.
"This style leads to mistakes and broken relationships but he was able to override those pitfalls because of his talent, charisma, and ultimately because winning was so important to him that he would back down if he saw that winning was in the offing," wrote Prof. Weinberger. "Winning settled all scores and forgave all transgressions. That is, whether you agree with it or not, he had a value that gave all of his actions meaning."
Discussion Questions: What do you see as the pros and cons of the management style personified by former Yankee's owner George Steinbrenner? How effective, generally speaking, is this style in motivating employees?