Many leaders need to understand the power of moving from high control and a hierarchical structure to a light touch where staff feels empowered rather than controlled.
Before you say to yourself, "I release staff rather than control them," you might want to check with your staff because, in most cases where leaders believe they empower and release staff, their staff says just the opposite. In fact, when I do culture audits of staff and report back to the senior leader, he/she is almost always surprised when they hear that their team perceives the culture as controlling rather than empowering.
If you want to find out what the staff thinks, consider asking your team to answer the following three questions:
"Would you describe the staff culture as controlling - where you need permission to do something, or empowered where you have the freedom to do what you need to do to accomplish your job? Why? How does it make you feel?"
This is a standard question I ask in staff audits, and the responses are revealing and often discouraging, as the majority of staff often report that it is a controlling culture.
The third question, "How does it make you feel?" is essential. I will often hear responses like:
- "The organization hired me for my ability and expertise, but I cannot do anything without permission. I wish they would trust me rather than to doubt me."
- "I am seriously considering looking for a different job because my expertise and gifts are not being used here. If I don't do something the way my boss would, I hear about it and often have to back up and do it his/her way."
- "I cannot even spend small amounts of money without permission. That holds things up and is frankly demeaning. If I screw up, OK, tell me, but give me what I need to do the job without asking permission."
- "In our organization, decisions need to be made at least twice. First, by me and my team then I have to go through the same stuff with my supervisor, who feels free to override what our team has worked on. You feel disempowered and wonder why you put all the time and effort into a plan when you are often told to do things differently."