seagull manager

noun

A manager whose presence is rare and usually motivated by problems

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounseagull manager (plural seagull managers)

plural seagull managers

  1. idiomaticslangA manager whose presence is rare and usually motivated by problems

Origin

The term became popular through a joke in Ken Blanchard's 1985 book Leadership and the One Minute Manager: "Seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, then fly out."

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

seagull manager. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seagull%20manager

MLA

“seagull manager.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seagull%20manager. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “seagull manager,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seagull%20manager.

Source: seagull manager on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.