Over-managed organizations have systems and processes with no passion. Over-led organizations have heart with instability and chaos. ~Dan Rockwell
I so appreciated fellow blogger Dan Rockwell’s post focusing on the tension between leadership and management. It’s a necessary tension, because all organizations need both, they need to be managed and led. I’d take that one step further and argue that all leaders need to spend at least part of their time managing. It’s a rare situation where someone can lead, all the time, without the need to manage.
I really resonated with this challenge especially this week because I’ve lost track how many conversations I’ve had with leaders who really don’t have the patience to manage, and some people who are being asked to step-up and lead who would much rather just manage.
When an organization gets out of balance, you begin to see the consequences.
An organization that is over-managed might look like this.
- Processes no longer expedite, they actually slow, productivity. It takes five approvals to order more paper for the copier.
- People are doing their tasks, but there’s no purpose behind that effort.
- People are only doing their tasks, it’s not safe or encouraged to challenge the status quo or leadership.
- An abundance of procedures become bureaucracy. As Rockwell says, “You haven’t deleted a procedure since the Great Depression.”
- Employees aren’t people, they are gears in a machine. Meetings quickly become consumed with details and no one is looking at the big picture.
An organization that is over-led might look like this.
- High on passion; low on processes and follow-through.
- Leaders are more like competitive jugglers, the more balls in the air, the better.
- With all those balls in the air, it’s hard to know who does what.
- Training takes on a sink or swim approach. “You’ll figure it out.”
- Systems are too slow, “just get it done.”
Is your scale currently tipping in one direction far more than the other?
Rockwell says you can fix it by “finding some leaders who scare you, or hiring some managers who drive you crazy. Over-managed organizations need disruptors. Over-led organizations need system builders.”
How are you leading? Do you need to gain some balance this week?