The Transformation of Managing

Managing is not what it used to be – and that’s not a bad thing. Managing others has underperformed for many years. Part of the issue, in my opinion, is how the dynamic is framed.

“Managing others” seems to be about overseeing others, as if one doesn’t trust them to deliver on what’s expected. While it accurately acknowledges the power differential between a manager and their direct report, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the desired working relationship between the two parties. The implied or explicit distrust interferes with the possible efficiency and effectiveness of the relationship.

There is a better way but it involves a different way of thinking about things. It is based on the work of Bob Dunham, founder and CEO of the Institute for Generative Leadership. Instead of framing an individual contributor as a unit of production who needs to be supervised, what if what was managed was their promise? Further, that the manager’s job is to create the conditions that support promise fulfillment. This may mean removing obstacles, providing information and tools, and checking in as needed to determine the status of the promise. Is it on track to be fulfilled? If not, what’s being done to get back on track?

The fundamental nature of the relationship becomes different. The manager is now a collaborator with the contributor, more actively involved to enable her success and both parties’ satisfaction. The degree of enablement may change, depending on what’s needed by the contributor. The frequency and detail of the check-ins also may vary, depending on the importance of the promise to be fulfilled and the expertise of the contributor.

Not surprisingly, it takes practice to think differently and then to have different conversations that set the stage for elevated performance and deepened relationships.

I am having that conversation with Carol, a vice president client who is looking to accelerate the rate of team development with her director-level direct reports. This is an opportunity to build new levels of accountability and alignment around shared purpose and values, as well as execution.

She is beginning to have new conversations with her folks. She knows how she needs to behave that will model trust, respect, and psychological safety. She knows she will have to flag and explicitly (meta) comment on what she’s doing so they will begin to see/hear what she is doing, the different game she is playing.

Carol is excited, ambitious, and persistent about what it will take to change the mindsets, behaviors, and culture of her organization. For her, these are experiments worth running, the discomfort of growth worth accepting, progress worth struggling to make. A game that has both operational and strategic ramifications.

Where are you willing to take a step back, then look with fresh eyes at how you are thinking about and doing things? Where are you willing and able to arrive at new interpretations, decoupling your beliefs about how things are from your identity? Where can you be brave enough to experiment for the sake of learning, closer connections, better understandings, and collaboration?

Please share. This is a dialog worth having.

#selfleadership #designyourlife #generativeconversations