Comment les meilleurs leaders d’aujourd’hui favorisent la croissance et la performance
en modifiant l’état d’esprit traditionnel du manager héroïque (cf Série Perspectives du Leadership)
Every organisation struggles to transform and grow its business. Whether changing the strategy, producing innovative products and services, leveraging new technology, or integrating new systems and processes, the single most important factor in successful strategy execution is the people. The critical question is: “Do you have an engaged workforce committed to growing and transforming the business?”
Over the years, we have asked hundreds of individuals to think of a time when they were energised, engaged, and working at their best. What we heard may surprise you, but it may not if you stop and actually think about an experience in which you were working at your highest potential.
Five conditions consistently surface and contribute to people working “in the flow” and at their best:
- A challenging task—give me something important and something to accomplish that is worthwhile and worthy of my time.
- A clear goal—I knew what I was striving for, I knew what was expected of me, and I was clear on the outcome, the vision, or the purpose.
- Autonomy—I was given the freedom to use my talents and creativity to figure things out and take ownership of the project.
- Accountability—the project had visibility; success or failure, I knew I was the one being held accountable.
- Involvement—I felt connected and energised by my peer group; we motivated each other.
We asked this follow-up question: “What was the role of your leader in that experience?” Truth be told, respondents say the leader was the one who created the conditions—they were encouraged and empowered by their leaders, but they did the work themselves.
When asked, “How does your day-to-day experience align with the kind of leadership example that energised you?” most people acknowledged it did not align very well. Why is that the case? The reality is many mid-level leaders (those accountable for transforming the business) have developed a mindset that shapes what they think they need to be and do to be successful, which, unfortunately, works against what they want to accomplish most—engaging their people to produce excellence.
What Inhibits Leaders?
Let’s explore what inhibits leaders’ ability to fully engage others. Many mid-level leaders believe that since they are accountable for results—getting the job done right—they need to take charge, assign tasks, coordinate work, control the budget, and make all the key decisions. On one hand, this sounds pretty desirable, does it not? A real take-charge leader.
We refer to this approach as Heroic Management. The leader views his or her purpose as achieving specific, short-term business objectives by getting the work done through people. The Heroic Manager feels he or she must have all the answers, be in control, be responsible for results and coordination, and control everything. As you can imagine, direct reports on the receiving end of this management style feel dis-empowered, devalued, demotivated, or simply comply, at best.
Moving Past the Heroic Mindset
| The Shift from Heroic Manager to Growth Leader | ||
| Heroic Manager | Growth Leader | |
|---|---|---|
| Role |
|
|
| Satisfaction | Being the superstar problem-solver | Developing individuals and the team to create better solutions |
Mid-level leaders must move past the Heroic Manager mindset and view themselves as Growth Leaders. Mid-level leaders need to understand that while they are still accountable for results, the best way to achieve those results is through sharing the responsibility for problem-solving, decision-making, and coordinating with the team they are leading. It requires mid-level leaders to shift their mindset from “getting the work done through people” to “getting the work done with people in a way that builds their ability to do it themselves.”
Additionally, mid-level leaders need to shift the source of their own fulfilment from being the superstar problem-solver to helping employees contribute to better solutions, leading to more individual growth and success. This is represented by the table to the right.
Imagine Growing Individuals and Transforming the Organisation
Can you envision the mindset shift that must happen to go beyond just getting work done? The organisation cannot grow without growing individuals. To grow individuals, leaders need to shift beyond simply thinking about results; it is both results and the way leaders connect individual talents with business needs that optimise the organisation’s capability to implement strategy. The shift is a difficult challenge and, beware, the barrier to growth is the Heroic Manager mindset.
The challenge for L&D professionals is to help mid-level managers shift their mindset and skill set from Heroic Manager to Growth Leader. This means helping traditional leaders learn to let go, move on, and grow as leaders who engage others to perform at their best and gain a sense of fulfilment from their work.
Pour en savoir plus, contactez Wilson Learning au 01 47 51 70 70 or rendez-vous sur notre site Internet at WilsonLearning.com.
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About the Author
Tom Roth
Tom Roth possède plus de 40 ans d’expérience dans le développement et la mise en œuvre de solutions d’amélioration de la performance humaine. Il est responsable de l’orientation stratégique et de la performance économique des activités de Wilson Learning Worldwide. Il dirige les services marketing monde et le groupe de solutions R & D. Il apporte son expertise à des équipes dirigeantes sur des problématiques liées à l’engagement des salariés, au développement du leadership, à l’implication stratégique et à la transformation des entreprises. Avant d’occuper son poste actuel, Mr. Roth était Président du département R & D et du développement du groupe et occupait le poste de PDG de Wilson Learning Amériques.
Mr Roth possède une forte expérience dans le développement et la mise en œuvre de solutions d’amélioration de la performance humaine. Il est le co-auteur de plusieurs livres tels que Unplugged: How Organizations Lose Their Energy and How to Get It Back (Déconnectées : Comment les entreprises perdent leur faculté à croitre et comment la retrouver) et Creating the High-Performance Team (Créer une équipe Haute Performance). Mr Roth est publié dans de nombreuses publications professionnelles. Intervenant régulier lors de conférences et d’événements clients nationaux et internationaux, il aborde un grand nombre de sujets, dont le leadership, l’engagement des salariés et des clients, le changement et la mise en œuvre de stratégies.
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