The following is an excerpt from Lead With Purpose: Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself, by John Baldoni.
When purpose is clear, it provides something upon which to build for the future. Such a future depends on harnessing the talents of employees and developing them to lead into the future.
In too many organizations, front-line managers are viewed as doers not deciders, implementers not contributors, and compliers not creators. If these precepts seem arcane, more in keeping with nineteenth-century management principles than twenty-first-century ways of managing, it is because they are, according to a recent study by McKinsey & Company. Unfortunately, this study found that these ideas are still au courant in today’s world of front-line management, particularly in distributed management locations – for example, retail, transportation, and real estate. McKinsey concludes that such practices are making organizations “less productive, less agile, and less profitable.” 1
Most corporations operate on principles of hierarchy. That is good for ensuring the development and execution of strategy, but it falls flat, as the McKinsey study and others like it have found, when it comes to being responsive to change and responsible for people. One highlight of the study noted that managers were spending more time on transaction than transformation—that is, more on administration than people. In contrast, “at best-practice companies, front-line managers allocated 60 to 70 per cent of their time to the floor, much of it in high-quality individual coaching.” Additionally, such managers had more opportunities to make decisions and “act on opportunities.” 13
If I were a manager, I would use this information as my entree to advocate for more autonomy, or what we might call “leading from the middle.” Here are some ways to put your ideas into action:
*Develop a plan of action. Consider how you can be more effective in your job by making decisions that allow your department to be more responsive to customer needs and more accountable to corporate directives. In other words, look for things you can do to delegate tasks so you can focus on thinking more strategically for your team.
*Become a person of influence. Organizations operate on influence; those with influence get things done. Titles facilitate influence, of course, but truly influential employees are those who lead by their example. They are proactive; they think ahead. More important, they get things done on time and on budget. In short, they earn their stripes by following through.
*Act more like a boss. Supervisors should supervise the work, not do it. Avoid getting sucked into “feed the monster” tasks that satisfy immediate needs but only waste time. You can do this by thinking how you can effect positive change in ways that optimize value. This can take the form of optimizing operations, retraining employees, reducing costs and spending more time with customers.
*Be prepared for setbacks. There used to be a saying in Hollywood that for every person who could say yes to your project, there were 50 who could and would say no! Those pushing from the middle need to steel themselves to push back. It will come not just from bosses, but from colleagues as well. Perseverance is essential to driving initiatives upward through an organization.
*Believe in yourself. Fortunate will be the manager who sells an idea upward the first time. Often it will take many tries to get your good ideas heard, as well as acted upon. During that time, continue to refine your idea. Listen to feedback. Most of all, don’t lose faith in yourself. If your idea is rejected, find out why. Timing may be the reason. Put it away and plunge yourself into another project. A new day, or a new boss, may create new opportunities for you. Through it all, never stop believing in your ability to effect positive change.
