> A general "rule" about leadership is to not ask someone to do something
> that you (the leaders) would not do yourself. I have found this to be a
> fairly good rule to live by and have made it a part of my philosophy and
> principle base. However I have experienced difficulty when dealing with a
> different (younger) generation who have inherited a different work
> philosophy than mine. That is, a task that I don't think twice about and
> hence freely delegate is viewed as a not my job by a different work ethic
> group.
As a cusper, someone on the edge of Gen. X and the Baby Boom, I wonder
what jobs you're delegating? My experience has been that when Gen X people
say "that's not my job," what they really mean is "that's boring; don't
you have something else I can do?"
X-ers are generally well-educated and looking to increase their skills as
quickly as possible. When they end up in entry-level jobs that require
them to "pay their dues" and perform meaningless and mundane tasks, they
rebel. "Not my job" is an excuse in this case, not an ethic. (BTW, I'm
not excusing this behavior; just trying to explain it).
As an example, in my previous employment, my superior and I had similar
strengths and abilities and tended to be interested in the same aspects of
a project. What frequently happened was that in delegating
responsibilities, I ended up with the stuff she didn't care to do
(although she could have done it if she chose to). While I never said
"that's not my job," I did feel that my tasks didn't match my strengths or
challenge me in any way. They were just the things she didn't want to do.
You say that you only delegate that work you would do yourself. Does your
staff see it that way or do they think you are saving the "good stuff" for
yourself? (This isn't a flame, just a question). While we all obviously
have to do things in our jobs that we'd prefer not to, I think leaders
have to make certain that they delegate not only those jobs that they
can't get to themselves, but also those tasks that will stretch the
abilities of their staff and provide them with the learning opportunities
they seek. If you're not already doing this, maybe you could make it clear
that you're taking on some distasteful aspects of the work yourself? That
way your staff sees that everyone has to do the boring work sometimes.
Just another perspective.
Michele Roy
Roy Performance Consulting
jrmr@bellatlantic.net
--Michele Roy <jrmr@bellatlantic.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>