CAN CHANGING LEADERSHIP STYLE PRECIPITATE A POWER STRUGGLE?
There’s a delicate balance that many leaders struggle to achieve. It’s easy to veer off to one side or the other, and either extreme can be disastrous. ?
Finding that middle path is a challenge because we have to reach deep and reach wide - far beyond the sometimes less than stellar examples we’ve encountered during our careers. Far beyond our own preconceived ideas and biases. We strive to reach an ideal, not because it’s likely to be achieved, or simply desirable, but because it’s the right direction in which to move.?It’s not easy. It doesn’t often work exactly as we’d like. But moving toward it is better than sticking with the status quo.
Right now, leadership best practices are undergoing some interesting transformations in response to changed employee expectations and business environments. Those who’ve been cruising along close to the traditional leadership norms are being forced to reexamine their methods, mindsets and manners, or risk a significant talent attrition over the next year.
Along with these pressures, there’s confusion, skepticism and insecurity. We can read as many leadership articles as we like, but still have no real idea of either how to practically implement the suggestions, or how to deal with unforeseen consequences. The last thing we want to do is settle on a formula which sounds good but which ends up causing complete chaos throughout our organization. This, I think, is one of the worries for a leader who sincerely wants to reengineer their leadership style but can never quite figure out when, or how, to do so.
Power struggle or power grab?
Many leaders fear loss of power, or control. When we perceive that we’re losing control it can be scary. This factor alone makes the process of reengineering leadership style especially challenging. When a leader is used to managing from a ‘command and control’ perspective, any change to that status can be perceived as an enormous risk and potential threat to their career.
What if, by relaxing their dominance and inviting team participation, they’re outvoted??What if the team decides that they are going to take control and usurp the leader’s ultimate decision making authority??What if they see the relaxation of policy as weakness and ineffectual leadership??Will it result in a power struggle where the leader is obliged to fight to maintain their authority? Or will it be a quick and devastating power grab leaving the well intentioned leader floundering?
When a leader changes from a ‘command and control’ position to a more inclusive leadership they face some interesting challenges:
- how to introduce the change to the team in a credible and authentic way that will not diminish their standing as a leader
- how to become more empathetic and communicative
- how to decide on the level of empathy that should be expressed and in which situations
- how to become more inclusive in terms of involving employees in decision making
- how to avoid bogging everything down in endless discussion and debate
- how to avoid a loss of final decision making authority?
- how to ensure accountability in a fair and consistent manner
With respect to finding helpful advice on the above, there are a number of people I’d suggest following on LinkedIn and I’ll include them in a section at the end of this article.?
领英推荐
A simple leadership rule-of-thumb guide:
In my opinion, if we remember this easy leadership rule-of-thumb, many of the above dilemmas will automatically be resolved.?That rule is: ‘Lead the way you’d like to be led’ or, put another way, ‘Treat people how you’d like to be treated’.?
When we realize that respect and/or authority is derived, not from a title, but by proving ourselves worthy of being respected and by showing others the kind of respect we would like them to show us, then it puts the whole leadership ethic in perspective.?
What happens when a leader is accountable to higher management who prefer ‘command and control’ methodology?
It’s naive to think that one leader, especially if they’re not part of the C-Suite, can achieve such a dynamic change in a corporation committed to old style leadership strategies. But, even in these circumstances, it’s often possible for the innovative leader to change the way they interact with those in their own team.?By doing so on a small scale and demonstrating the positive effects of such a change, there is hope that it will be seen, appreciated and begin a paradigm shift in the organization. If not, that leader has at least improved their immediate area of responsibility and gained valuable experience in what promises to be the leadership style of the future.
Leaders to follow:
- Danny Langloss https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/dannylangloss/?
- Rusty Gaillard https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/rustygaillard/
- Tony Gambill https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/tony-gambill-0227767/
- Ron Carucci https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/roncarucci/?
- Ludmila Praslova https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/ludmila-praslova/
- Dr Oleg Konovalov https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/dr-oleg-konovalov-a6a3401a/
- Ken Blanchard https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/kenblanchard1/ ?
- David McLean https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/davidmcleanatgetkeepgrow/?
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The Myth Slayer?? Transformational Coach for Attorneys ?? 2x TEDx Speaker ?? Ignite Rebirth, Inspiration, & Bold Impact ?? I Want Your Future to Be EPIC!
3 年Andre Williams: this may be your most inspiring article yet. You just nailed it all and really gave a way to think about leadership even to those not in the C-Suite, who might want to do better, but cannot figure out how to take the next step or how to begin to re-conceive. What a gem of an article.
Founder at theblur.io | Web Developer | UI Designer | Build digital experiences and create brand identities
3 年Andre Williams Great article ?? Appreciate your effort on it.
Coaching employees and brands to be unstoppable on social media | Employee Advocacy Futurist | Career Coach | Speaker
3 年So many thoughts reading this Andre Williams. A few here: ?? change is constant, employee voices are the voices. Leaders must consider how to be effective in this new world of work. The command & control style will push people out, and damage the #culture. Amidst a war for talent that’s a high risk. Maya Angelou famously said “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ?? Where to start? For once leaders must start with themselves. Look inward. Self awareness is critical to transformation, and then lead with vulnerability. ?? People leave managers, not organizations. No matter where in the org chart you sit, you influence. And you have an opportunity to be the leader you want to work for, and to invest in your people. Don’t use someone else’s lack of change as your crutch. ?? Wisest words I’ve ever been taught was to hire smarter, hire wiser, hire more experienced, than you. Then give them the know-how, tools, training, access and empowerment to thrive. That’s #leadership.
Fractional Chief of Staff | Strategic Advisor | Empowering CEOs/Founders to Design Human-Centered Organizations and Achieve Personal + Performance Excellence | Open to Fractional Chief of Staff Roles
3 年Great article Andre Williams with so many great points!! For me - what under lies them all and will make for a successful leadership (also very personal) transformation is COURAGE. For example: 1. All the what if’s you mentioned are indicative of the presence of fear. While 99.9% of our fears are over catastrophized it is still a strong internal feeling that requires the internal COURAGE to overcome. 2. The requirement to be vulnerable and authentic again requires tremendous COURAGE. 3. Understanding the cost of personal growth ends relationships (with people and companies) and having the wisdom to know that though it may be difficult that having the COURAGE to do it anyway will work out better than you can imagine. So I suppose the C in any change a leader embarks on is COURAGE. And I would be remiss to not share that using the innovative principles of design thinking (what I’ve coined leading by design) is a wonderful tool for this. A road map if you will to help leaders make the transition to a more empathetic, human-centered and collaborative approach to leading and goal achievement. And to your original question. Courage is less about the power and more about standing on your principles/values that are important to you.
Award-Winning Author, The Canary Code | Professor, Organizational Psychology & Business | Speaker | Culture | HR | Inclusion | Belonging | Wellbeing | ?? Moral Injury | Neurodiversity | Autism @ Work | Global Diversity |
3 年Thank you for the mention, Andre Williams! I think you will like my upcoming chapter in the book on leadership, out in October, fingers crossed. It deals with current leadership challenges and a couple of unconventional approaches to leadership that might help! ?? I think we've been lazy with the use of the word "leader." There are people who are in positions of authority but need command and control to wield this authority. Perhaps they've been placed into those positions before they were truly ready. They don't have followers, they have subordinates. They are bosses, not leaders. And then, there are leaders. They may or may not be in the position of authority, they may or may not have subordinates, but they have followers. The position does not make someone a leader. Bosses are afraid they will lose power if they consult with people or treat people well. Leaders don't. The transition from boss to a leader is indeed terrifying, but with inner work and growth in both confidence AND humility, possible.