# Mintzberg's Managerial Roles ## The Idea in Brief Henry Mintzberg observed what managers actually *do*—not what textbooks said they should do. He found chaotic, fragmented work: constant interruptions, rapid task-switching, little time for reflection. From this observation came 10 roles that managers play, organised into three categories. The insight: management isn't the orderly planning-organising-controlling sequence that Fayol described. It's a messy dance across multiple roles, often simultaneously. --- ## The 10 Roles ### Interpersonal Roles These come from formal authority and involve relationships. **Figurehead.** Ceremonial duties—signing documents, attending events, representing the organisation. Symbolic rather than substantive, but necessary. **Leader.** Coaching, motivating, directing. The role most people think of as "management." Hiring, training, setting expectations, giving feedback. **Liaison.** Connecting the team with people outside it—other departments, external contacts, networks. Building the web of relationships that gets things done. ### Informational Roles Managers sit at the centre of information flows. **Monitor.** Scanning the environment for useful information. What's happening in the team, the organisation, the market? Managers are information hubs. **Disseminator.** Passing relevant information to the team. Translating, filtering, prioritising what people need to know. **Spokesperson.** Communicating outward—to senior leadership, other departments, external stakeholders. Representing the team's work and needs. ### Decisional Roles Mintzberg considered these the most important. **Entrepreneur.** Identifying opportunities for change and improvement. Initiating projects, driving innovation, seeking ways to do things better. **Disturbance Handler.** Responding to crises, conflicts, unexpected problems. The firefighting that consumes much of management time. **Resource Allocator.** Deciding where money, people, and attention go. Budgeting, scheduling, prioritising. Every allocation is a choice about what matters. **Negotiator.** Working out agreements with suppliers, clients, employees, other departments. Trading, bargaining, finding acceptable compromises. --- ## Implications **Role conflict is normal.** The entrepreneur wants to start new initiatives; the resource allocator has limited budget. The leader wants to develop people; the disturbance handler keeps pulling you into crises. Managing means navigating tensions between roles. **Different situations emphasise different roles.** A startup founder spends more time as entrepreneur and negotiator. A middle manager in a stable organisation may be mostly monitor and disseminator. Know which roles your situation demands. **The informational roles are underrated.** Managers often think their job is making decisions (decisional) or motivating people (interpersonal). But much of the value is in gathering, filtering, and routing information. Poor information flow causes most organisational dysfunction. **Fragmentation is the reality.** Mintzberg found managers switching activities every few minutes. If you're waiting for uninterrupted time to "do real work," you're misunderstanding the job. The interruptions *are* the work. --- ## Sources - Henry Mintzberg, *The Nature of Managerial Work* (1973) - Henry Mintzberg, *Managing* (2009) --- ## See Also - [[Requisite Organization]] — Jaques on managerial levels and accountability - [[The Five Focusing Steps]] — Constraint-based prioritisation for resource allocation - [[OODA Loop]] — Another framework for rapid situational response