Magor is a prominent expert on organizational culture and leadership in Romania. He is a Partner at Trendconsult.
A few years ago, a business coach of mine presented me with an intriguing question. He asked me whether I preferred my employees to be an extension of my hands or my brain. I struggled to decipher the meaning for a time. And even after I had grasped the concept, I failed to put it into practice for an even longer time.
The concept, though, is fairly straightforward; if I expect others to be nothing more than performers, they will essentially become extensions of my hands. Even if they have the potential, they won’t be able to produce anything substantial. Instead, they will simply carry out all of my brain’s creative ideas. For those who must maintain the appearance of control, it can seem like a safe and comforting alternative, but in the long run I believe you will find this strategy taxing since the organization will always be dependent on your ideas.
Allowing For More Creativity
We should look to avoid an organization’s growth being constrained by the creativity of one individual—powered by a single-brain engine. Additionally, this strategy severely demotivates people. It sends the message that their ideas and originality do not matter. They know without a doubt that their only responsibility within the company is to do the tasks assigned to them. Talented people who want to learn, develop and feel like they are making a difference will find such a culture to be kryptonite.
Whatever strategy we employ, the fact remains that organizations have as many brains as the people who work there. If these minds are permitted to create, this can lead to practically endless possibilities. However, when individuals are only acting as the leader’s hands to complete a task, their thoughts are not fully engaged in the situation. But when you consider others to be an extension of the leadership’s brain, a significant shift can occur. Ideas suddenly have several sources rather than just one. Additionally, every source will have its own unique set of experiences, skills and information.
I believe that a company looking to the long term needs to help create a culture where people are not only welcome but encouraged to think and communicate their ideas in groups. Every team member should have the chance to continue learning in this way.
Sharing The Burden
The extreme strain that leaders are under is one of the organizational issues I frequently witness. In my own experience, there have been times when I have struggled to involve my team in leadership decisions, treating them more like extensions of my hands rather than collaborators. This approach eventually led to a personal breakdown, which made me realize that I needed to change my approach. The notion that I could act differently didn’t occur to me until after this breakdown, and it was only then that I realized I could let others collaborate and more freely express themselves.
We should all be asking ourselves what we can do to ensure that our leadership doesn’t experience burnout or other types of self-defeat. Unfortunately, many of today’s organizational structures and understanding of authority force leaders to fall into the same trap I once did. For too many leaders, employees are just components or consumables in a system that generates results; we too often choose to focus on numbers, indications and goals rather than people.
Accountability Over Power
I think more companies need to find ways to let people rise to positions of power naturally instead of only giving a certain amount of power as a reward when employees manage to outperform their peers. This competitive process demands continuous commitment, further leading to stress and tension and contributing to burnout and even collapse.
In healthier companies, accountability takes precedence over power. Like many others, I began my career in a traditional, power-based model of leadership. I would not have been able to change this style without exceeding my own boundaries. I had to fail in order to see that my previous methods of functioning were no longer effective. My good fortune is that I was able to develop a brain organization with the help of a sufficient number of mature individuals who accepted my change and vulnerability. As a result, I was able to comprehend that leading among others is less complicated and involves less pressure, ultimately leading to far better outcomes.
Do you employ more hands than brains in your organization? My hope is that others reading about my scenario can avoid the same issues of burnout that I did and start to prioritize collaboration. Look to make your employees an extension of your brain rather than your hands.
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