When you taste the delightful flavour of being treated like a valued member in a company, when you became a number again the fallout is pretty naughty.
Looking the problems in the eyes and solving them using the human relationship is fantastic. Resolving the diversities analysing what people can do, raising the stake to reach a level of awareness that an alone human being cannot reach is something that creates value. On the other side of the managerial approach the questions can be settled in a clean, cold environment, where the risk of being personally involved are extremely limited is a safety net.
These two representation of approaching team problems is something that defines, from my point of view, the joy of working or the boredom of executing.
I like people, I like hating them because they have ideas better than mine, I like challenging them to get over their limits, I like making them smile for a job well done.
I hate when the numbers are pretty good and nobody receive a slap on the shoulder, I hate when the company get together with the exception of the management, I hate when the information are divided in airtight seals, I hate when numbers come before people.
In the end everyone of us have to face the fact that sooner or later we will have to fight the numbers, but in my vision I believe that a close team can fight the problems much better than an aseptic, measured management.