When I started my first ‘real job’ in 1973, hierarchy was alive and well. I was fortunate to work for a boss that was not of the ‘command and control’ style. He was more collaborative. My next boss was planted firmly in “I’m the boss. Do what I tell you to do.” His attitude enabled him to receive my compliance, but not my commitment.
For the most part, the way companies are led has migrated/evolved to a very different place from 1973. The need for speed over the past 40 years has demanded that businesses be able to make effective decisions at the lowest levels of the organization. We learned over time that collaboration was more effective in making decisions and engaging the workforce at all levels. We also experienced that millennials won’t work very long in a ‘command and control’ atmosphere.
Interestingly, if you are looking for quicker decisions and compliance, ‘command and control’ offers those things. Some parents are still ‘command and control’ because it works (think compliance). I can intimidate, threaten, cajole, or bully you into doing what I want. As a parent, getting you to do what I want can be paramount. In our heads, when we are tired, frustrated, ready to move on, having a child that is uncooperative can be the worst. That is why the shortest distance between two points (me getting where I want to be) can involve a ‘heavy handed’ approach. For some leaders, it works very much the same way. For many years I have studied the attributes of ‘command and control’ leaders and the evolution of why that style is no longer as effective. Some of my findings relate to the fact that as we moved away from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, there were natural shifts in what was required to drive better performance. I believe that paralleling that movement was the ‘evolution’ of our society toward a change in what people looked for in a work environment. Over the last 20 years we began to understand that the methods of the past no longer were helpful in creating a culture that nurtured higher performance. Robert Greenleaf’s work around Servant Leadership is as, or more relevant today as a model for ‘nurturing’ cultures, even though he wrote much of it in the 60’s and 70’s.
In the context of these ‘evolutions’, I find it ironic, if not troubling, that in the Presidential race we have a ‘command and control’ person who is about to be nominated for our highest office. Are we so angry about the dysfunction in our political system’s ability to get things done that we are attracted to one who promises to ‘right all the ills’ and make us great again? Are we so enamored with his perceived ‘strength’ that we really don’t care about how he goes about ‘getting things done?’ Do the ends justify the means?
It’s curious and interesting. In light of our shifts in leadership, and the nature of the leaders offering themselves for consideration as President, I invite you to consider what are the core values and behaviors that you want in your President, and what you want your experience in the ‘culture’ of America to look like going forward. Compliance or Commitment.
To a better you…