Managers will find themselves, from time to time, in
situations where they are ill-prepared, out of the loop, less informed or less
articulate than their subordinates, or where subordinates appear to have deeper
insights into the issues at hand. In
this Electronic Age, as information travels at breakneck speed to everyone’s
desktop, the manager is less able to link her authority to knowledge that only
she possesses.
If the manager’s self image is linked to the old paradigm
wherein his authority was interdependent with knowledge that he possessed
exclusive of his subordinates, then he will be tempted to exclude knowledge
from his subordinates, or avoid opportunities for them to share knowledge they
have acquired independently.
Worst of
all, he may adopt their knowledge without attribution.
We all know managers who have taken a
wonderful idea from a subordinate and portrayed it as their own in meetings
with the boss.
None of these ploys will work. Today’ successful managers
must be confident decision makers, to be sure.
But most of their interaction with subordinates will be involved in
coordinating their staff’s creativity and their contributions to meeting
organizational objectives and mission.
In
today’s interconnected world it is more likely than ever that a non-manager
will produce the most brilliant piece of a strategic plan, or will have the
most insightful suggestion about how to deal with an important account.
If managers find their behavior consistent with the older
paradigm, what can they do to become successful in the Electronic Age, where
managers are more aptly compared to symphony conductors than to generals?
Training can help, especially in a setting
where other managers are addressing the same issues.
Increasingly, coaching is available to assist
managers to discern and adapt their styles in real time and real issue
settings.
More that anything else, managers must learn to live with
vulnerability, especially the vulnerability that comes with being not the best
informed, not the most knowledgeable and not the wisest. Here is a very simple first step that a
manager can take to become more comfortable with such vulnerability.
Bring a real, but not momentous issue to your subordinates
in a staff meeting.
Tell your staff that
you are struggling to get your arms around this issue, and that you just don’t
seem to be able to resolve it.
Lay it
out in some detail, even sharing options that you see but can’t seem to choose
among.
Wonder aloud whether anyone has
any suggestions.
As staff offer
suggestions, listen carefully, ask questions to clarify, take the suggestions
seriously and find a way to praise each one.
Do not rush to resolve the issue during that meeting.
Rather spend time showing appreciation for
the thoughtful suggestions that have surfaced.
If you find, as you should, that your staff
feel appreciated and empowered by this
behavior, you will be emboldened to bring more and more important issues before
them.
As you do, they will endow you
with even more power.
This is the
paradox of sharing one’s vulnerability.
The
manager who hides vulnerabilities becomes less powerful in the eyes of his/her
subordinates.
S/he who invites
subordinates to participate in matters of substance becomes more powerful in
their eyes.
