Managing Leadership^®

The concept of the democratic workplace has gained a good bit of ground in recent times. A particularly interesting aspect of it is the idea that employees should be given “ownership” of the decisions they implement. One version of this theme goes so far as to insist that the more important the decision, the larger should be the group that makes it.

The problem, though, is that in politics the core tenet of democracy is that the right to rule resides in the true owners, or sovereigns, in society – the citizens. The parallel for the citizen in the workplace is not the employee, but the owner – the shareholder.

Thus the rights attendant on ownership belong to the latter, and can only be delegated to, not arrogated by, the former. They certainly cannot, in a fit of false enlightenment, be simply awarded to employees by managers, themselves only agents lent – not actors naturally possessed of – this right.

I attempted to make these points in a recent post entitled “The decision-maker.” But Chris Young, consultant and author of the Maximize Possibility Blog, made the strong objection that employees are inescapably more involved, focused, and effective precisely when they are given appropriate decision-making authority, and held suitably accountable for its use.

It has also been suggested to me that my apparent unwillingness to delegate decision-making is in conflict with the general position this site is dedicated to promulgating: that organizational leadership should arise from among and be expressed through employees; that it should be cultivated and managed by management, not coopted by it.

These are good points, which warrant a careful response. Moreover, they do indeed touch on the principle purpose of these pages. I will attempt, then, over the next few days, to address them together, and to demonstrate how they ought to be – must be – reconciled.

We will talk about delegating decision-making, the roles in this of authority and responsibility, and, of course, managing leadership. Please do be sure to stop in!

—

Today’s tips: As we cover these topics in the next few days, one thing we may note is the degree to which managers claim to believe in a principle – and to which they sincerely think they do – in contrast to the extent to which this is belied by their decisions and actions when push comes to shove. With this – as well as these general topics – in mind, please how Miki Saxon, at Leadership Turn, connects the dots between beliefs and behaviors.

And speaking of expressing leadership, please see these four crucial bits of advice from Steve Roesler, of All Things Workplace, about how to influence upward. I’m inclined to pick #3 as the most vital, but it’s a tough call – what about you?

—

Note: The February Leadership Development Carnival is up at Dan McCarthy‘s outstanding site, Great Leadership. As always, Dan has provided great material from some of the best contributors around. Please be sure to visit – and be prepared to add a lot of great sites to your regular reading lists!

—

If you look at the contents section on the sidebar of the main page of this site, you will see a listing of the article series that have been published here. You can click through to view summaries of the pieces, and then read the full series or selections that are of most interest to you. Enjoy!

And while you are, please also subscribe by email or RSS reader – thanks!

Technorati Tags: workplace, decision, politics, democracy, sovereign, society, citizen, employee, owner, shareholder, ownership, delegate, enlightenment, manager, Chris Young, consultant, decision-making, leadership, management, authority, responsibility, managing leadership, principle, Miki Saxon, Leadership Turn, Steve Roesler, All Things Workplace, influence, Dan McCarthy