🚀 go-pugleaf

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
On Wed, 8 Jun 1994 G.Southon@unsw.edu.au wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >Roland  I agree  that fear does not work.
> >My dilemma is that it exists and that managers believe that it should.
> >How do you drive out fear in organizations that want to have fear ?
> >Fritz Perls said that real change can only come through catastrophe.
> >Possibly these organizations need to failure and rebirth as places
> >without fear.
> >
> >Regards
> >Denis Cowan
> >
>
> This may be right, but you have to consider the nature of the re-birth. New
> organisations are normally formed by idiosyncratic entrepreneurs who have
> great faith in their own abilities, and feel threatened by being eclipsed
> by others. This is probably the genesis of the fear cycle.
>
> I believe we need a much more sophisticated concepts of leadership which
> reduces the emphasis on the individual, and looks more at shared leadership
> roles. This does, however, need special skills that are not well developed
> by the individualistic western culture.
>

Or, perhaps, less sophisticated concepts of leadership - in which managers
as leaders have a specific role to play in defining goals, assigning
resources, enhancing communication, removing obstacles - to provide the
degree of guidance and support required by the people who report to them.

I've found the models in Ken Blanchard's and Paul Hersey's SITUATIONAL
LEADERSHIP to be very useful.

The other concept, which you may be including in the definition of "shared
leadership", is a new view of what it means to be led.  What should I
expect - and demand - from a leader?  What can I not expect (e.g., the
ability to predict the future)?  After going through a number of
acquisitions and down-sizings, I have seen the fear, despair, betrayal, and
anger engendered in employees by unrealistic expectations of the power
held by their managers.  At times, these unrealistic expectations have
been fostered by the managers in  (unconscious? well meaning? self serving?)
efforts to keep a sinking ship on an even keel and protect their employees
from the truth.

The paradigm that seems to be emerging places the individual in charge of
his or her own career and professional development, no longer relying on
anyone or any company to provide lifetime employment and career direction.
Which means that individuals need to develop personal skills in teamwork,
communication, continuous self-education, and shared leadership (participatory
management?) that allow rapid assessment/development of capability and
of trust in relatively fluid teams and departments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Bamford <bamf@sunlight.com>                       SSQC
Software Systems Quality Consulting           2269 Sunny Vista Drive
Phone/Fax (408) 866-4792                         San Jose, CA  95128