“Keep your people in the dark, and cover them with sh*t”
Despite sounding “a bit medieval”, there are still examples of this kind of “Mushroom management” in existence today. There’s even an entry in Wikipedia to describe it, so it must be true!
Occasionally, bits of “dark” are inevitable in management. Business leaders can’t always share all information with all of their staff, nor can they make decisions that satisfy everyone. But there is a huge difference between this and companies who haven’t set a clear vision for themselves.
On top of all the other roles a business leader has, we also need to add “existential philosopher”. Why are we here? What is our purpose? What are we trying to achieve? What does the company aspire to be, and why? How do different stakeholders fit within this aspiration?
When you’re trying to motivate people and lead an organisation for optimal performance, having an answer to these questions saves time.
There's normally a tension between managing a busy schedule and the commitment required to meet long-term strategic objectives.
In order to manage this tension, it helps if a company has clarity on their “Vision”, and for the vision to be understood by all employees. Without clarity, employees can’t realistically be expected to meet, let alone exceed expectations.
To achieve clarity, the company needs to have done some soul-searching, research and strategic planning. Where to start? What to include? Who to involve?
Few things in a busy calendar can be as daunting as staring at that particular sheet of blank paper. This is why the strategic planning and vision-setting tasks often get “postponed”.
In response to this, Armstrong Watson is hosting a series of free-to-attend, 2-hour seminars to help business leaders get to grips with these ideas of vision and purpose.