The best captain doesn’t rush in front.
The fiercest fighter doesn’t bluster.
The big winner isn’t competing.
The best boss takes a low footing.
This is the power of noncompetition.
This is the right use of ability.
To follow heaven’s lead
has always been the best way.

~ Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching (Heaven’s Lead)

Continuing from my previous post, what are the alternatives to Heroic Leadership?

Should new type of leader abandon all responsibility and control? Absolutely not.

1 Postheroic Leadership (Manager-as-Developer)

The problem is the workload: shared responsibility and control should take place of the individual hero carrying the burdens alone. In new leadership, manager works to develop management responsibility in subordinates by helping to develop subordinates abilities to share management of the unit’s performance. Everybody is committed to joint responsibility for overall excellence. Manager-as-Developer sets new standard so that the team can be built: skills have to be learned, common goals accepted, expectations changed and norms modified.

We can imagine this Manager as a coach (but this picture is imprecise, since Manager is involved in action much more than a coach can ever be). He learns to have impact without exerting total control, to be helpful without having all the answers, to get involved without demanding centrality, to be powerful without needing to dominate, and to act responsible without squeezing others out.

What can Manager do today to transfer to this new, post-heroic style of leadership?

First, change in orientation is needed. The questions that should arise with each problem is:

How can each problem be solved in a way that further develops my suboordinates’ commitment and capabilities?

The purpose of this is to get the job done while engaging subordinates in a way that helps them stretch. Both goals are important, and both should happen in parallel, in real time.

This kind of shift also requires mental shift from subordinates: at first, it will feel awkward that Heroic Manager made such a change, but here Manager steps in again, sees this happening, and breaks the ‘awkward moment’ by asking more questions, signaling that creative capabilities of subordinates are sought out.

This shift to post-heroic leadership (Manager-as-Developer) should give organization following benefits:

Greater likelihood that tasks will be accomplished at a high level of quality.
- Task excellence is more likely when members seize new opportunities as they develop, uncover problem and difficulties early (before they become major crises), share their knowledge and expertise, and feel committed to carrying out decisions.
- Opportunity for rapid change and innovation: it is not manager only who has contacts with critical persons outside of department..
- Rapid change also brings with it greater likelihood that old solutions, practices and procedures will soon become outdated (after all, members are often aware of developing problems before leader).
- Team interaction is greater, which unites different people that know different parts of a the problem.
- High members commitment to departmental excellence increases the likelihood that solutions will be fully implemented. While heroic styles prevents an individual from asking for help, team that is committed to excellence will also recognize what assistance is needed.
Increased feelings of responsibility by subordinates are not limited to task issues only but extend to managerial ones as well. Excellence is more likely to occur when subordinates share in the management of keeping each other honest.
Increased subordinate motivations: increased responsibility of this new management model is highly satisfying to high performers who actively seek out jobs that use and develop their abilities and want tasks that challenge and stretch. The opportunities for personal learning and development help build useful career skills.

Developer model consists of three components: by building on one another, excellence can be achieved.

Let’s analyze each one in detail.

2 Component 01: Building a Shared Responsibility Team 🙌

Shared Responsibility Team is a joint responsibility group that shares in making the core decision and in influencing each other to insure high-level performance.

In environment of increasing complexity, responsiveness and coordination are key ingredients for success.

Managers have the challenge of bringing together all the necessary information and producing coordination. This entails assurance of the following:

That work is fairly allocated.
That tasks are properly coordinated.
That problems are raised/escalated and resolved.

Heroic Manager deals with these issues by working harder and running faster. Postheroic Leader deals with this by building a team that shares in the responsibility of managing a department => Shared Responsibility Team (hereinafter: SRT). The responsibility of this group is not to advise and counsel the leader: it is a joint responsibility group that shares in making the core decision and in influencing each other to insure high-level performance. And this absolutely makes sense: subordinates are the one who have to be coordinated, and they have a vested interest in their peers performing well. Adequate coordination and control is more likely to occur if members can influence each other.

Shared
Responsibility
Team 🙌

Subordinates also have the delicate task of fighting for the interest of their own subunit, but also to fight for the department’s overall interest. This, in turn, teaches them following skills:

Balancing competing interests.
Seeing issues in wider context.
Working collaboratively.
Sustaining good working relationships with others who do not agree on all issues and who are prepared to fight for their views.
Making sacrifices for the greater good without being a pushover.

This all leads to following benefits:

Members of SRT are thus lead to greater commitment and motivation, as well as better performance. Responsibility best develops when people can exert influence.
Cohesive, mature team as this also increases the range of skills and knowledge available to the department: in this way, the flaws of Manager-As-Technician are completely eliminated.
More diverse range of managerial behavior becomes available, thus easing the burden of leader, and potentially compensating for his weaknesses.
Ironically, amount of control of SRT is increased since it’s sources are multiplied. Members who feel ownership of a solution feel that it is their right and responsibility to influence others who are implementing the solution. From a managerial perspective, this serves as an excellent control mechanism to see that the tasks are completed well and on time. Groups can exert greater pressure than one individual can, even when that individual is the leader. To reverse it, most people are even less willing to face their peers with an unfinished or inadequate performance than they are the leader.

3 Component 02: Continuous Development of Individual Skills 👨‍💻

**Continuous development of subordinates** is a critically important aspect of the postheroic model.

Usually, Future Manager-As-Developer will, in most cases, find that his team consists of subordinates who in most cases have reasonable technical competences. Some will have some managerial skills, but few will be strong in interpersonal and group areas.

This is the area where we need to talk about ‘soft skills’: for SRT to work, each member has to have requisite technical knowledge, accompanied by minimal level of managerial and interpersonal skills. This point cannot be highlighted enough: when person above the rank of supervisor fails to perform, it is rarely because of lack of technical knowledge. In most cases, it is because of ‘softer’ issues of how to motivate others, handle conflicts and disagreements, make and meet commitments, conduct meetings and use influence. And it is precisely here where Developers (Manager-as-Developer, or postheroic leader) needs to pay greatest attention to in terms of subordinate growth and learning.

And no, learning off-site or online will not cut it: Developer has to use daily interaction with the subordinate as the setting for growth: day-to-day interactions of various members of teams (not just supervisors) contain the greatest potential for teaching and learning crucial interactive managerial skills.

In other words, continuous development of subordinates is a critically important aspect of the postheroic model. They are not being groomed for some future responsibility, but for the present, crucial ones.

What are the benefits of development as continuous process?

Benefits of ongoing development of a subordinate

Material being worked on is fresh, first-hand. No need for expensive external workshop on influence skills if the manager gets together with the subordinate immediately after the meeting, and gives his feedback on subordinates behavior/speech/decisions in the meeting. In this way, new learning will take hold, immediately.
Behavioral problem of a subordinate can be turned into an opportunity for growth. Most managers resist giving negative feedback for fear that it will alienate and discourage subordinates (which will occur if the underlying message is: Aha, I knew you could not do it!). But, if the underlying message is There is more you can do and I have confidence that you can do it, then problems can be raised directly.
Ongoing development has extremely motivating and energizing effect on the subordinate. Do note that we are here talking about subordinate who is turned on by the challenge and opportunity. By practicing ongoing development, Developer, keeps subordinate motivation high. This cannot be highlighted enough: the chance to grow by being helped to learn from even negative experiences is a powerful attraction to ambitious subordinates — they can tolerate almost anything, including the intense dedication needed to achieve excellence, if their efforts are perceived as leading somewhere.

The chance to grow by being helped to learn from even negative experiences is a powerful attraction to ambitious subordinates — they can tolerate almost anything, including the intense dedication needed to achieve excellence, if their efforts are perceived as leading somewhere.

In context of Component 02, reader should not assume that every subordinate can be developer. Some do not have interest, motivation or ability. Before reaching this conclusion (and acting appropriately), Developer should strive to know his or her full potential. Towards performer and underperformer, developmental stance of Developer identifies cases where a subordinate can’t or won’t perform adequately. The dividing line is incompatibility with what the deparment needs and what the subordinate can deliver.

4 Component 03: Determining and Building a Common Department Vision 🎯

**It is the responsibility of Manager-as-Developer to articulate and gain member commitment to an exciting departmental overarching goal.**

Personally, I consider this as most important component of Developer model.

Commitment Developer will gain through first two components will not be enough.

In order for subordinates to give their best efforts consistently, a larger purpose that gives meaning to work (routine or non-routine) has to be present. Unexciting but necessary tasks can still have importance if they are in the service of larger, clearly important goals.

It is the responsibility of Manager-as-Developer to articulate and gain member commitment to an exciting departmental overarching goal. We are not talking here about mission statements, but about overarching goal that is a meaningful description of the purpose that captures the unique thrust of specific unit.

Overarching goal fulfills several functions:

The individual is not just working for a paycheck, to support a family, or to escape from the stigma of being unemployed. Instead, there is the potential for the work to speak to a core need within each person — the need to be a part of an organization that makes a difference.

Overarching goal unites and inspires members with a vision that justifies extra effort: financial security alone cannot inspire people to give their best consistently. In practice, it is seen that subordinates can work hard for monetary rewards, but they won’t consistently give the level of effort and commitment needed to produce excellence. It isn’t that economic success is unimportant, it’s just that it is necessary but not sufficient. The individual is not just working for a paycheck, to support a family, or to escape from the stigma of being unemployed. Instead, there is the potential for the work to speak to a core need within each person — the need to be a part of an organization that makes a difference.
Overarching goal serves as a standard to by which to make decisions. If the goal is specific enough, it can be a guideline for choosing among options.
Overarching goal makes clear the direction the department should strive forward: it defines future (moving from status quo).

5 Conclusion

These components are essential for Manager-as-Developer model.

They build on on another, thus enabling reaching of potential for subordinates, which will lead to High Performance Team that achieves excellence by sharing responsibility for achieving an exciting goal.

By forgoing control of a leader, greater delegation of responsibility and influence will occur. Control will be derived from multiple sources: from the agreed-on goal, from others on the team, and from within, as each individual personally wants to do a good job.

This doesn’t not mean of blindly trusting people and having faith that everything will work out. Above mentioned control mechanisms will ensure that any kind of disagreements or failing to act appropriately will be dealt with in context of these control mechanisms, which will lead discussions to the best way to accomplish tasks, and not jockeying for turf or private personality issues.

Due to immense importance of Component 03 - Overarching Goal, seperate post will be dedicated to this topic.