Has anyone here had experience with a manager who shows very clear OCPD-like traits?
Has anyone here had experience with a manager who shows very clear OCPD-like traits?
I’m curious whether anyone else has been in a similar situation, because I’m currently dealing with a leadership situation that has gradually become quite extreme.
I’m in a position where my CEO displays some very pronounced traits that strongly resemble OCPD. He has an extreme need for control and perfectionism, is highly rigid, has very little tolerance for deviations or for anything that is not “the way we usually do it,” and has a strong conviction that things need to be done in one particular way.
I’m part of the executive management team myself as CCO, responsible for sales, marketing and the commercial side of the business.
The most difficult part is almost not the individual conflicts. It’s the constant rigidity in everyday life.
Everything has to fit into a predefined box. It makes visionary, creative and experimental work extremely difficult. If something deviates from the way he believes it should look or be done, the deviation itself becomes the problem, even if there is a deliberate professional or creative rationale behind it.
One example: Recently, he spent more than three hours trying to find a discrepancy of 3$ in the monthly accounts. It turned out that a single receipt had been affected by a filter and had therefore been posted incorrectly. 3$.
But he couldn’t send the accounts to the board if they weren’t completely correct.
Our financial reporting is only shown to the nearest 1.000$, so the discrepancy would not even have been visible in the accounts.
At the same time, his calendar is full of countless small “follow up” items on things that would normally be handled by employees or team leaders:
\- Follow up on whether some safety harnesses have been shipped.
\- Follow up on whether a sign has been painted.
\- Follow up on whether the grass has been cut in a specific area.
\- Follow up on very minor operational details.
These are not isolated examples. It’s a management style.
Six months ago, our executive management team consisted of the CEO, CCO, COO, CFO and a Project Director.
Since then, the CFO has been fired after a period of massive micromanagement. The COO resigned around three months ago. The Project Director has just resigned.
I will resign myself on August 31 if I haven’t been dismissed before then. In fact, I’m partly hoping for the latter because I’m already in the process of moving on to something new, but he doesn’t know that.
The latest development has made the situation even more obvious.
Now all communication and marketing material has to go through him for final approval.
Everything from visuals, campaigns and signage to radio commercials, videos and newsletters. The list is very long.
The reason is that on a few occasions, material has been published that he personally felt did not fit our brand guidelines closely enough.
For example, it could be a Halloween campaign where we have deliberately created a very distinct Halloween universe instead of making it look like our normal look and feel.
To me, that is simply part of the marketing discipline: themed campaigns need to have their own universe.
For him, the deviation from the norm becomes the problem itself.
The departments reporting to me are very affected by this. They experience it as control and as a lack of trust in their professional abilities.
I’ve had many conversations with my employees, telling them not to see it as criticism of their work.
They are talented, creative and produce really good work. But it’s difficult for them not to take it personally when their professional autonomy is gradually being taken away.
There is no doubt that his work is his entire life.
He usually arrives at work at around 7:00 a.m., drives home at around 6:00 p.m., and shortly afterwards he is online again until around 11:00 p.m.
At weekends, he often finds work-related tasks to do or takes shifts that would normally be handled by regular employees.
Holidays, private appointments, family events, etc. are generally not attended. They seem to be regarded as a waste of time because that time could instead be spent working.
I also see the same extreme level of control in his own routines and diet. He is incredibly underweight, eats very little during the working day and almost always avoids eating at company events, usually with some explanation. For example, the last time it was, “I’ve just had a huge lunch.”
I don’t necessarily think his intention is to control people or to be this extreme.
I think it is more that control gives him some form of security.
But the consequences for the organisation are the same:
Less autonomy. Less creativity. Less independence. More approvals. More micromanagement.
And eventually, talented people start leaving the company.
Has anyone here worked closely with, or reported to, a CEO or manager with similar traits?