Becoming Manager: Or, The Werewolf Looks Anxiously in the Mirror, Checking for Unusual Facial Hair

This article is comprised of autobiographical reflections on becoming the head of a management department in a small English university. I assume that being a manager is not an identity or occupation that is ever finished or fully occupied, and hence the article is structured as a series of confessions, reflexive conversations and interruptions. The main themes of the article are the fragmented character of managerial work, the changing relations between self and colleagues, and the seductions of power, centrality and speed. I conclude with some observations on the relationship between a critical management academic identity and managerial practice.