David Brent, the manager in the hugely popular satirical comedy drama about organisational life, The Office suffers from ‘delusions of grandeur’ concerning his leadership skills and the value of his personal philosophy of management. I have compiled a collection of his top tips in the area of teams, leadership and collaboration.
David Brent’s Ten Tips for Leaders and their Teams
- Process and Procedure are the last hiding place of people without the wit and wisdom to do their job properly.
- There may be no ‘I’ in team, but there’s a ‘ME’ if you look hard enough.
- There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’. But then there’s no ‘I’ in ‘useless smug colleague’, either. And there’s four in ‘platitude-quoting idiot’. Go figure.
- You don’t have to be mad to work here! In fact we ask you to complete a medical questionnaire to ensure that you are not.
- You have to be 100% behind someone, before you can stab them in the back.
- Remember the 3 golden rules:
1. It was like that when I got here.
2. I didn’t do it.
3. (To your Boss) I like your style. - It’s the team that matters. Where would The Beatles be without Ringo? If John got Yoko to play drums the history of music would be completely different.
- If your boss is getting you down, look at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail.
- Eagles may soar high, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
- Avoid employing unlucky people – throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them.
The Office is written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Ken is an expert practitioner, author and speaker on Collaboration, High Performing Teams, Change Management, Business Strategy and Leadership Development.