Take empowerment back
I’ve read much about the perils of shifting from a command and control style of leadership over to something that is more dispersed, and therefore less “controlled”. I’ve experienced the shift first hand through being part of a large NZ Telco’s agile transformation.
One article I read recently talked about how agile was giving rise to “abdication leadership” — getting so far out of your team’s way, and empowering them so much that you might as well not be there. The critique of empowerment has become deafening, and it’s frustrating.
I’ve seen some of the bad behaviours that are causing the problems — they’re not new. They’ve got a flash new name, that’s all. It used to be called being a terrible manager. I remember past leaders I’ve worked with who have been as useful as a chocolate tea pot when you needed them the most. When the proverbial hits the fan, they are nowhere to be seen, and you are left with a whole load of mess to clean up. Or (worse, if you value autonomy as much as I do), you are “empowered” to make decisions and drive initiatives, and then someone keeps jumping in and making decisions for you or undermining you. There is nothing more demotivating or exhausting.
For the lazy manager, giving away work because you have no intention of doing it and you want someone else to do it for you used to be as easy as claiming it was “an important…