Trying to lead or manage under someone who leads or manages differently than you is a difficult thing.
My style - if I have a style - is that of "primus inter pares", or first among equals. I make certain assumptions for the groups I lead:
1) They are adults.
2) At some level, they want to be there.
3) They are capable to doing what they are asked to do.
Yes, I understand that this is a luxury to some extent - not everyone has educated people that they trust - but I am (usually) fortunate in this regard.
My way is simply to make sure they know what to do and let them go do it. I will monitor from time to time and they are free to ask questions, but that is about all the oversight I typically give. I have my own expectations to fulfill and tasks to do.
Unfortunately, this is not everyone's style. In some cases their style is much more daily interactive and managed. It is not wrong, but it is certainly different that how I usually go about things. So my challenge is to meet it.
Well, to be fair, the challenge is really to meet the expectations that I have been given. It is presumed or expected that this is the way to to this.
The problem? That style works in some cases but not all - and when it does not, it goes wrong badly. What seems like close oversight to some seems like micro-management to those who are under such a system: every action is spelled out for them, every item to be done is carefully monitored and when not completed, a little more than "Oops, did not get done today" is expressed.
Where does it lead? In my experience, it leads to people who become driven but not engaged, who learn to only do what is given to them lest they do the wrong thing out of turn. It does not lead to individuals who think for themselves and take proactive actions - because those actions may be outside the realm of what they are supposed to do and it simply does not become worth it.
So here is my challenge: to get the results that are expected of me while leading in such a way that I maintain the intellectual integrity and willpower of those who report to me - in other words, lead by example and gentle management while getting the results of someone that regulates tasks a great deal.
It will be hard - but when I think of managing the other way all I come up with with revulsion and anger and memories of my experience being managed that way, experiences that convince me that I can never do that to someone else.and effectively lead them the way I feel such things should be done.
Does it matter in the end? My experience in employment tells me no matter how ya do it there is always someone there ready to fire the torpedoes when your not looking.
ReplyDeleteSo yes and no Preppy. Does it matter in the end? No, not really as I am hardly enough to influence the course of a company or events. But yes in the sense that how I manage people and how that style makes them feel and act and how they feel they are being treated is incredibly important to me. I have worked under some people that had very difficult management styles and I know how that makes one feel - not very good about one's self, one's work, and often one's place in the world. I want people to leave and go on to better opportunities, not flee or be vocationally crippled because of me.
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