Linda Wing and a couple of others offered their ideas as to why we resort
to practices such as employee ranking. Peter Scholtes, the author of the
Team Handbook, has now published The Leaders' Handbbook. The following
was copied from his website, www.ps choltes.com and explains his
perspective on the issue:
Leaders of People: Some are Wonderful,
Some are Clueless.
The Rest are Somewhere In Between
by Peter R. Scholtes
I have been an observer of managers for about 45 years. I've been a
student of the species for over 30 years and a consultant to them for
over 25 years. Some managers have been wonderful: respectful of their
people, knowledgeable about their business, dedicated to their customers
and conveying a clear sense of direction and focus. These leaders have
been a joy to work with.
And then there were others. I call them the clueless. Whatever they are
tuned in to, it has little to do with leadership.
What I offer here are a few observations about the two ends of the
management continuum, some comments on some of the differences between
the wonderful and the clueless.
1. External Focus vs. Internal Focus
Wonderful managers keep their people focused on the world outside the
organization. Their people have a deep, daily understanding of customers
and their needs.
Clueless managers keep their people focused internally. Their people
direct their attention upward, having a deep daily understanding of the
bosses and their needs. These employees are also looking laterally at
one another, measuring their individual competence by contrasting
themselves with their peers. Employees of the clueless pay a lot of
attention to their immediate superiors. (That word itself says a lot
about the expected relationship. An employee, introducing his manager to
a visitor was asked by the visitor "Is this your superior?" "No", he
replied "this is my boss!".)
One way managers encourage "internal focus" is by encouraging employees
to compete with one another for rewards, recognition, ratings and
rankings.
--Roxanne Abbas rabbas@comp-web.com http://www.comp-web.com
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