Abstract In this article, it is argued that there is variation in the meaning of managerial competence for members of groups dealing with managers, and empirical study is proposed to grasp it. Next, application of this proposal is shown through a qualitative study using phenomenography method with 33 participants from employees of an organization. Research data is gathered through semi-structured interviews, and analysis shows six qualitatively different ways of experiencing managerial competence: Competence as being referral, as being developer, as being enabler, as being director, as being institutionalizer, and as being representative. In addition, these ways of experiencing are seen as embedded in a hierarchy constituted by four levels of personal management, employees’ management, work management and work foundation management; which shows their structural differences besides differences in their meanings.