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Always Right Cindy Management Style

When I was in grade school, one of my classmates, Cindy always had an opinion. No matter the topic, Cindy, would be there to voice it. The youngest child of six siblings, I suspect that Cindy was never heard in the family. For her, the only way to get attention was to point out the faults of her older brothers and sisters.

I've seen managers do this. I've noticed it as I've worked up the ranks in corporate America. They get attention. They are known as "Always Right Cindys." They always have an opinion. They tend to voice that opinion even if they don't have all the facts beforehand.

How to Combat Always Right Cindy Management Style.

1) Agree and complete your task. Often it's easier to agree and complete your task the way you know will work. It's your responsibility to complete the task, not the managers. So, how you get that task done is the key. Consider the Always Right Cindy's opinions. But, don't let them block you from getting things done.

2) Reverse it. This is tricky and a gamble. If your Always Right Cindy manager is always disagreeing, try telling them the opposite of what you want. For example, Larry works at a burger stand. His manager puts a meeting on the schedule to talk about how they should salt the fries. Larry likes to salt the fries after they come out of the fryer. The use less salt this way, and it creates a much tastier French fry. During the meeting, Larry reverses it knowing that his manager is a Always Right Cindy.

"We should salt the fries while they are frozen and before I fry them," says Larry.

"No, we should definitely salt afterwards," says the Always Right Cindy.

We have solved the problem. Larry overturned the decision, securing his desired outcome.

Here's an example. Rita is a software developer. She finds that having many meetings can interrupt her flow. Her manager, Todd, who is always right, calls another meeting. They'll discuss the number of meetings they have each day.

"Thanks everyone for joining," says Todd, the Always Right Cindy.

"I'd like to talk about getting more status updates from our development team," he says. "Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get more updates?"

"I think we should actually have more meetings," says Rita, reversing it.

"I like that idea, but I don't think you're right," says Todd. "I actually think we've had too many meetings."

No matter what method you use to combat Always Right Cindys, understand that you won't change them. Years of insecurity created this behavior. You can't change who they are, but you may change the outcomes.