Empower Your Team and Get Out of Their Way

This is going to be a short rant of a post I'm afraid. I probably am not saying anything worth reading, so I suggest skipping this post altogether...

There are few impediments more destructive in an organisation than "leaders" who manage. Imagine, for example, a "Lead ThingDoer" who, instead of ThingDoing, far from inspiring and directing other ThingDoers, spends her time telling lesser ThingDoers which hot desk they should occupy. This is not leadership, it's interference. If you are one of these people, if you are inventing policy that offers you control but has no demonstrable, objective value to your customers or your company, then stop right now and take a long, hard look at yourself.

I recently witnessed a household name company, a respected enterprise that employs thousands of genuinely excellent people, suffering at the hands of a Lead ThingDoer who seemed to find nothing better to do than demand the highly-paid professionals justify in advance any working away from their (designated) hot desk. Where's the trust? If your team cannot be left to make such trivial decisions, then why are they allowed to operate on projects worth millions of pounds? I suspect that many of these "leaders" are trying to deflect attention away from their own incompetence. Indeed, one such Lead ThingDoer I encountered actively stood (off the record) against agile practices because "not everyone can do that... it makes those who can't do that look bad." You know what? GOOD. If people look bad when standing next to their peers, there's probably a sounds reason and that should be highlighted, not hidden away.

"Leaders" like this drive away the professionals and breed a culture of resigned mediocrity. If you find one in your enterprise, weed them out before they drag you down to their level.