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posted by n1 on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the life-is-just-like-tv dept.

Sunday's return of Season 4 of Game of Thrones reminds us that you may have encountered a Stannis Baratheon or Daenerys Targaryen in the workplace as psychologist Elizabeth Neal and executive coach Iain Crossing provide an analysis of the management styles of the Westeros power-grabbers and what they should do to become more effective leaders.

For example, Stannis Baratheon is a blustering leader with powerful allies the kind of person that could be found in junior management or senior operational roles in a family-run or semi-government business with no dedicated HR resources and weak governance. "Stannis has a strong work ethic and is likely to be respected by his subordinates however his need and greed for power allows him to be influenced contrary to his principles," says Crossing. "There certainly are qualities that are promising but there would need to be professional development." Joffrey Baratheon is emotionally unstable, antisocial, immature, unreliable, reckless and irresponsible says Neal, and displays a pattern of pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others while his narcissism indicates that he is too insecure to change. When facing a Joffrey in the workplace, your best bet is to lodge "complaints with HR and try get him moved on," says Crossing.

Finally there is the one character in Game of Thrones at the top of her game who would make it as a corporate executive just as she is Daenerys Targaryen. The 'mother of dragons' is collaborative and resourceful, a fast learner and highly adaptable to change. According to Neal, Targaryen leads with compassion and "an appropriate amount of maternal instinct while remaining unswayed by emotion." Daenerys is also a risk-taker who has strong beliefs about right and wrong and takes it upon herself to champion her ideals of social justice. "I can't fault her leadership style," says Neal. "That's the kind of leader I would respond to well, personally."

[Editors Note: Author has informed us this writeup has been cross submitted.]

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:31PM (#28440)

    If my colleagues were Game of Thrones characters they'd be... Hang on, I've not watched fantasy TV shows since I was 12.

    • (Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:06PM

      by Sir Garlon (1264) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:06PM (#28458)

      If your colleagues were Game of Thrones characters you would be getting laid by extremely attractive members of your preferred sex ... or murdered in gruesome ways ... or both. So be glad it's just a TV show (and a series of novels).

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday April 09 2014, @04:41AM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 09 2014, @04:41AM (#28605)

      "If my colleagues were Game of Thrones characters they'd be... Hang on, I've not watched fantasy TV shows since I was 12."

      And let's run that through the universal translator: "I missed out on a lot of fun, and ..." [ERROR: MISSING DATA] "... makes me cool!"

      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 09 2014, @01:12PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 09 2014, @01:12PM (#28748)
        Generally, the "I don't watch that shit" folks only come out of the woodwork to make their views known as a reaction when everyone else won't STFU about it.
        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday April 09 2014, @04:35PM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 09 2014, @04:35PM (#28896)
          Oh puh-lease. You lot really are the Vegans of the nerd world. "I just thought I'd come into a thread about a TV show and mention that I don't watch it.
          --
          🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
  • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:35PM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:35PM (#28442) Journal

    Kill the ones everyone likes first. That'll keep them scared, and do forget the occasional mass slaughter.

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:20PM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:20PM (#28465) Homepage

      Incestuous behavior is why some people get promoted and stay in power.

      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:46PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:46PM (#28502)

        After a few seasons of fun intrigue and backstabbing between cube-dwellers, obsolete everybody's fascinating skills and intelligence by bringing in Monsters (call them Bob and Bob), Dragons (upper-management raining death from out of reach) and dark magic (M&A?)

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:37PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:37PM (#28444)

    I generally loathe these inane comparisons ("executive coach"?? What kind of BS job is that?). Perhaps I would find it more useful if not only could I identify who the Daenerys Targaryen is in my workplace, but also determine what kind of Sex in the City person she is? Or, perhaps, is she more a Rachel or Monica? Because, lord knows, we need strategies on how to interact with people after we've shoe-horned them into a caricature of a fictional persona from a film or show that we're familiar with.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by TK on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:01PM

      by TK (2760) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:01PM (#28456)

      This is the SN equivalent of those facebook polls that tell you which of the Kardashians you are.

      --
      The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by combatserver on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:52PM

    by combatserver (38) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @08:52PM (#28451)

    If they only knew...

    "According to Neal, Targaryen leads with compassion and "an appropriate amount of maternal instinct while remaining unswayed by emotion." Daenerys is also a risk-taker who has strong beliefs about right and wrong and takes it upon herself to champion her ideals of social justice..."

    What her new-found army of supposedly "free men" haven't yet realized--While they may be free, the moment they turn and bite the hand that feeds them, their real purpose will come to pass. They are nothing more than food for the real juggernaut--her dragons.

    I see this as analogous to current military structures (the supposedly free army), and the Military Industrial Complex (the dragons)--When you look real close, our military is really only a support structure for The Complex.
    .

    The White-Haired Woman will kill us all...if we follow her. (yes, another analogy to real life--care to guess who?)

    --
    I hope I can change this later...
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by bucc5062 on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:34PM

      by bucc5062 (699) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:34PM (#28469)

      Barbara Bush? My mother? Most of Florida? Inquiring minds want to know.

      --
      The more things change, the more they look the same
      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by mrchew1982 on Wednesday April 09 2014, @01:44AM

        by mrchew1982 (3565) on Wednesday April 09 2014, @01:44AM (#28550)

        I would imagine that he is referring to Hillary Clinton, since she is an older woman and predicted (by rational political commentators) to win the next presidential election by a healthy margin.

        Largely because:
        a. Over 8 years the Republicans still haven't managed to get their...stuff together and shake off the Bush curse.
        b. Alternate Parties are not seen as reasonable choices for most Americans.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by mth on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:20PM

      by mth (2848) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:20PM (#28488) Homepage

      Food is maybe a bit over-cynical, but indeed the infantry is there to protect the dragons. Or in MMORPG terms, the ex-slaves are tanks and the dragons will (when fully grown) be the DPS. But without healers, the tanks aren't going to last long...

      TFA says "Daenerys is a risk-taker", which is a bit of an understatement, in my opinion. She has an almost impossible dream and has taken all-or-nothing bets more than once. So far it has worked out for her, but you can't win every gamble.

      Besides, her dream amounts to taking revenge and claiming the throne, most likely burning down the capital with dragon fire in the process. Not what I'd call an example of "strong moral positions".

      You'd probably be best off working for Tywin Lannister: do your job, get paid, don't get killed in some heroic but impossible to win battle.

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:31PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:31PM (#28467)

    "analysis of the management styles"

    Takes too much time to gather the raw data. Reminds me of being bugged by coworkers to watch the Sopranos toward the end of the series, I, uh, obtained two random episodes via the usual places, and watched them, episode numbers were around #70 or so and it was two hours of pure WTF. I don't have time to spend 70 hours watching the previous 70 hours to make any sense of this. One episode revolved around a guy trying to quit, but they wouldn't let him quit, so he hung himself, and the other the main guy got shot by a crazy old relative and it was all flashbacks that meant approx nothing to me. Also everyone on the show was a dirtbag, good guy, bad guy, all the same, so I didn't find it very appealing. And less nudity in 60 minutes than I could find on the net in 60 seconds. And senseless violence. I'm guessing trying to get into this show at season 4 is about the same.

    You'd do better to operate a hot dog stand for 70 hours. Hot Dog Stand as an educational service provided over the internet (skype) for educational purposes. HDSaaS. There's a startup biz model I could believe in.

  • (Score: 1) by romlok on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:53PM

    by romlok (1241) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @09:53PM (#28475)

    Stannis has a strong work ethic and is likely to be respected by his subordinates however his need and greed for power allows him to be influenced contrary to his principles

    That's not the Stannis I understood from the books. Is the TV series so much different?
    AFAIK he wanted what was his by right and law. I don't remember any of his actions being against his principles of law and justice.
    The company he kept was a different story though, but I don't believe he was party to the more questionable acts performed in his name, or to his benefit. Or at least he kept a don't-ask-don't-tell stance.

    Disclaimer: I've not seen any of the TV series, and still not read Dance With Dragons (which would become season 5, I'd guess?)

    • (Score: 1) by GeminiDomino on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:06PM

      by GeminiDomino (661) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:06PM (#28479)

      The company he kept was a different story though, but I don't believe he was party to the more questionable acts performed in his name, or to his benefit. Or at least he kept a don't-ask-don't-tell stance.

      That's always where I considered him against his principles. Before he got involved with whats-her-face (I haven't read the books since the 4th came out) and she started with the long range magic murder stuff, he was stubborn, stuffy, and a bit of a prick, but law and justice were on his side. I always thought the whole "plausible deniability" dodge was more suited to Tywin and his ilk than Stannis.

      --
      "We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 09 2014, @11:32AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 09 2014, @11:32AM (#28714)

        "with whats-her-face"

        FYI, Her name is Melissandra..

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:38PM (#28497)

    For a long time I wrote off Game of Thrones as a shallow, mainstream fantasy show. Then, on a lazy sunday with nothing to do, I rented the first season.

    My goodness, was I wrong. The characters were fairly thinly drawn but were engaging - I cared about how things turned out for them. The story, too, was fairly broad, but was also exciting. The nudity was amazingly erotic yet tasteful (and there was lots of it!).

    Some things were silly, like the society suck in the high middle ages for 8000 years, and the fireproof dragon girl. But countering that was the genuinely interesting imp (Tyrion) - the first time I've seen a show with a dwarf in a leading role, and the actor & writers didn't disappoint.

    Back on-topic, wrt management styles, Tyrion seems like the best so far: not (yet, at least) promoted beyond his abilities; he knows himself well and bases his decisions on the facts, not emotion or short-term interest.

    • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday April 08 2014, @11:11PM

      by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @11:11PM (#28511) Journal

      Yeah it starts out that way.

      The following is rot13 encoded because it is chock full of spoilers and disappointments -- autoconverter: http://www.rot13.com/index.php [rot13.com]

      V yvfgrarq gb gur nhqvbobbxf hc guebhtu obbx svir. Gur svefg naq frpbaq obbx jrer irel ragregnvavat -- EE Znegva vf n yvggyr ercrgvgvir va fbzr erfcrpgf ohg V jnf rawblvat gur fgbel naq phevbhf nobhg jung jbhyq unccra. Gur guveq obbx jnf BX, gur 4gu jnf xvaqn onq, naq gur 5gu jnf na nznmvat fybt -- zber yvxr n qrngu znepu gb trg guebhtu. Onfvpnyyl, rirelbar unf orra xvyyrq bss, rira Wbua. Qnranelf frrzf yvxr n gbgny juvare, Neln vf fgvyy cbgragvnyyl vagrerfgvat ohg ol obbx svir fur frrzf gbgnyyl sbetbggra, nf vf ure pevccyrq oebgure jub jrag abegu -- uvf fgbel vf vagrerfgvat gbb ohg vafgrnq bs gung, jr trg gb yvfgra gb raqyrff erzvavfprf nobhg fbzr tbhgl xvat jr'ir arire zrg orsber cynlvat va cbbyf jvgu bgure xvqf nf n puvyq, be fbzr sng thl ohlvat fynirf naq rngvat nyy gur gvzr, naq ba naq ba. JGS? Nyzbfg rirel punenpgre lbh'ir vairfgrq gvzr yrneavat nobhg, vf qrnq, naq abj lbh unir gb fgneg nyy bire jvgu n ohapu bs oenaq arj pneqobneq punenpgref gung nera'g rira vagrerfgvat va cnffvat.

      Gur qvfgvapg vzcerffvba V tbg ol obbx 5 vf gung EE Znegva vf whfg zvyxvat guvf sbe nyy vg vf jbegu, svyyvat cntrf naq cntrf jvgu sbezhynvp terrgvatf naq oynu oynu oynu. Gurer vf nofbyhgryl ab jnl V'yy ohl obbx fvk -- gur jvxvcrqvn flabcfvf jvyy or nyy V'yy arrq. Vs ur oevatf Wbua onpx nf n mbzovr, gung fubhyq or rabhtu sbe 10 zber obbxf naq 10k nf znal zvyyvbaf sbe EE Znegva. Jung n shpxvat unpx.

  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:39PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Tuesday April 08 2014, @10:39PM (#28498) Journal

    He buys his employees multiple, extremely flexible sex partners, and allows them a good degree of freedom and ale.

    Don't see nuthin' wrong wit dis boss! :)

    A man I could look up to!

    ....ummmm.... :/

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---