Why do so many bosses think they have to go it alone?
Each and every one of us, uniquely down to the very person, is a distinct and singular individual. There is your profundity for the day. Got it? Nonetheless, even as an individual consciousness occupying an individual body, each of us still needs to work collectively to get anything important done over the long haul.
What is that old saying? “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to far, go together.”
The origins of this truism are murky, and it is often described vaguely as an “African Proverb.” Whatever the source, though, it is a fine bit o’ wisdom. Yes, sometimes it is best to go it alone to get something done in a pinch, but to build or accomplish something truly great and lasting, you will want to work as a team.
Unfortunately, many businesses and other organizations have cultures that isolate and insulate individuals even when they are supposed to operate in teams. Structures and incentives tend to encourage individual effort, and people tend to see themselves as lone operators in a sea of activity and even turmoil. Therefore our systems themselves reinforce the human propensity to go it alone and rarely reward the self-discipline required for cooperation.
In business, a good leader is supposed to make all this individuality work together somehow, but usually the supposed leader (aka boss) views him or herself through the same limiting lens of individuality, which is antithetical to good leadership. Compounding the matter, the boss is, in fact, uniquely positioned as an individual to make the team function.
In summary, the boss’s individual uniqueness, is precisely what is needed to drive collective action, but it is precisely what can get in the way of collective action. It’s a paradox.
All of this would be an interesting intellectual distraction if it did not have massive implications for the smooth-operation and success of a business or any organization. The failure of the individual boss to drive employees toward a common goal costs time, energy, and money.
The Failure of the Individual Boss
You’ve witnessed it, no doubt. The bosses who are micromanagers, perfectionists, and control freaks. Absurdly, in their narrow worldview, they are the only ones with the capacity to get thing right, to succeed. And, while they may get things done quickly in the short run and even be rewarded for doing so, their tenure is marked by
inefficiency,
lowered productivity,
short-term gains,
long-term losses,
unintended consequences,
employee discontent,
employee turnover, and
maybe even lawsuits.
With all this bad bossing around us, is it really any wonder that people are fleeing their jobs and that unions are making a comeback?
Bosses are usually under a lot of pressure to produce quick results, but quick results are not necessarily lasting results. Again, for the most assured lasting results you need to work as a team over time, to go far. But because of incentive structures and other factors, organizational systems are often stacked against the exercise of great leadership and the collaboration it fosters.
Furthermore, everyone has an ego, and the typical boss tends to have a pretty massive ego. Here’s a little secret, though. Having a massive ego is not the problem. To be a great leader leading a great business, the boss must be aware of and check that ego wherever and whenever possible. Great leaders put their values over their egos, which takes considerable self-restraint and strength. That, though, is the binary choice offered everyone who would be in charge of others: values vs. ego. Great leaders simply choose to commit to their values.
So, what are the consequences of doing otherwise?
The Consequences of Doing Otherwise
I have a friend whose former boss was one of these go-it-alone types. She thought that she, and she alone, was the protector of some mystical high standard that she could never seem to define or describe.
Of course, her bossdom was marked by constant questioning of her employees’ expertise, undermining of their autonomy, and criticism of their failure to meet her standard of perfection. Among her employees, who were highly-educated and well-paid (although still underpaid) professionals, her reign was marked by discontent, mistrust, resentment, and perpetual turnover, which she disingenuously chalked up to pettiness and disloyalty. She made it all about her vs. a bunch of ingrates, and that’s how she presented to the board that oversaw her. Of course, continually replacing so much professional staff cost untold amounts over many years, which the board somehow overlooked.
This boss professed loudly to certain admirable values but did not practice them in her day-to-day dealings with her people. The disconnect between her values and her practice generated cognitive dissonance within her, which made her miserable. Her misery in turn weakened her psychologically, which made her even more susceptible to her ego’s dominance and generated more cognitive dissonance, burying her values. Life for her — just like working for her — in a word, sucked.
Have you ever had a boss who behaved like this?
Now the Same with a Difference
Imagine that same scenario, but this time the boss is not ego-driven and actually practices her values. Imagine the success she would have achieved by deferring to the expertise of her staff, fostering their commitment to the mission, and helping them be their best. The time they spent bickering and complaining over the crumbs that sustained them could have been spent on doing the work. The employees who shrunk and cowered in fear of the boss’s criticism would have instead flourished as professionals. Imagine if the boss honored her employees with the acknowledgement that while they could have earned much more elsewhere, they had chosen less pay in order to support the mission of their organization.
Imagine the increased productivity, the work that could be accomplished, the struggles that could have been avoided. Staff stability alone would have resulted in massive savings. Furthermore, by practicing her values, the boss would suffer no cognitive dissonance. Her inner self and her behavior would be in alignment. The boss and her staff alike would find more ways to collaborate, more ways to innovate and excel, more contentment with their work, more satisfaction together, more success.
Imagine the boss had the strength to put her ego in check and to live her professed values. Imagine instead of going alone fast all the time, she would go far together with her people. Imagine.
Why does this seem so impossible for to so many people? Are bosses, as a class, all so weak-minded?
Is it really that hard to go far together?
How consistent are your at putting your values over your ego? How well do you balance going fast with going far?
As a great leader, you must develop the strength to tap into your values to put aside your ego, and I can help. Click below for your free consultation and gift.
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