How Mothering and Birth Order Affect Managerial Styles

In adulthood, mothering and the birth order effect seems to be related to scientific creativity. Scientific revolutionaries like Newton and Einstein tend to be first born. According to researchers, nearly all-evolutionary scientists were younger brothers. Almost all the eminent men who opposed evolutionary doctrine were first born or only sons. The argument here is that birth order provides the bedrock upon which personality is built and inevitably characterizes the quality of leading and of following that a person is capable of and impelled towards.

Provided that there is more than one child in the family, the mothering/birth order variables suggest four dispositions that define pecking order and managerial types as seen below;

·         The Benign Autocrat (BA): first born and completely mothered

This is a parent oriented and rather bossy person strongly ambitious and demanding of loyalty but capable of generosity and perseverant though. A BA leader is able to cope with reverses because of built in security-he/she is energetic and single minded. He is old fashioned and is always inclined to crush subordinates thoughtlessly though without malice. Uses good intellect best in familiar settings. Chooses an obedient spouse and his marriage is uneventful.

·         The Creative Democrat (CD) second born and competently mothered.

This is a warm hearted, unpredictable but serious manager inclined to take greater personal risks than the BA and has the capacity to spread interests wider. CD is leader of causes both popular and unpopular ones with a strong sense of justice. Likely to choose a relatively androgynous/liberated wife and have an eventful marriage. When turned on by creative energy, a CD can be very successful.

·         The Bad Boss (BB) first born and incompetently mothered

BB is a conformist, has power drive, rigid, full of inner dread and very determined to be a top-notch performer in most cases out of the inner dread. He has power drive and easily attracts obedience.. His rigidity prevents him from understanding the trajectory of his own life or the effect he is having on those around him. he is like an aimless robot no one can turn off.

·         The Confused Revolutionary (CR) second born and incompetently mothered

He has low status, powerless feeling but few resources with which to think straight and do constructive work. His orientation to authority is not hopeful-he gloomily equates authority with authoritarianism and autocracy. He complaints a lot, but he is capable of understanding injustice and empathizing with underdogs. He is rigid and easy prey for non-conformist’s dogma. Generally, he is a poor boss and extremely boring.

Perhaps these traits should be handy in helping you to make a self judgment of your management types.

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