He was an efficient heads-down, nose-to-the-wheel, eyes-on-the-ball manager of the operations, executing projects on time, using resources optimally…a relentless pusher.
But then he just did not have it in him to inspire his people to perform beyond the expected, pursue worthwhile challenges….Saw the projects as something to be completed and move on. What excitement, eh?
Quite convinced about the soundness of his views and approach.
Some of the best guys were ground down to mediocrity under his heavily task oriented leadership – they were hardly aware of what was happening.
Such managers are found in plenty especially in software industry. More so at senior levels.
Instead of dismissing them managers as misfit – their task orientation is abs necessary in projects – it may be a better approach to address the paradox by strengthening the structure with additional resources to inject excitement, innovation and challenge into projects. Resulting conflicts if any are not unmanageable if the manager gets the perspective right.
A question may arise: are we unnecessarily and unfairly complicating the poor manager’s life with unreasonable expectations on excitement, innovation and challenge?
These are no longer nice-to-have’s. They serve multiple purposes of a) delivering enhanced value to the customer, b) keeping the professionals engaged and absorbed – does enormous good for employee motivation and retention and c) building expertise, reusable production and marketing assets…
In fact every project is a great opportunity for the org to profit by the above.
You still think it’s a choice?
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