Management
Issue No. 62 - December/January 2011
People join organisations, leave leaders
by Naomi Mashford
Gone are the post-depression days, where one was grateful to have a job, any job!
Our current workforce, whose only links to that lifechanging time are the stories their ancestors tell, see work as readily available. They know organisations are always hungry for good people.
Gone too are the ‘gold watch’ retirement parties. Employees no longer feel psychologically bound to a company; it has become socially acceptable to move around in pursuit of one’s career. Today an employee’s loyalty is more often to his or her profession rather than to the firm.
One of the most significant sources of dissatisfaction for employees, and reason for their departure, is incompetent leaders.
It’s fair to say most corporations are over managed and under led, but in order to accept this statement we need to understand the significant differences that exist between Management and Leadership.
Let’s examine management – typically, managers engage in planning, budgeting, maximisation of resources (human, financial, technical and material), problem solving and controlling. Their primary goal is to attain high productivity and KPI achievement. Put simply, Managers manage people to get the task done.
Conversely, Leadership is firmly focussed on vision. Good Leaders align their people and then motivate and inspire them to achieve their vision. Leaders take initiative and assume full accountability for their actions and decisions. Put simply, Leaders move people to new and inspirational heights.
Delegate or die!
There are many and varied reasons why ‘leaders’ don’t delegate, including: I can do it better myself, I like doing this task, I might lose some of my power and control if I delegate-when I’m in control I feel safer, I won’t get any credit for getting the job done.
Or how about: it will take longer to train someone else to do it so I might as well do it myself, I...
