❤️Action #0039 - Stop Managing. Start Guiding.

❤️Discussion Of The Week

The last #weeklyaction moved one of you into action, and he asked me to expand into the question of “Management vs Leadership”, and so, I shall. Perhaps you will set the tone for the next one, should you choose to reply.

Management must die. There, I said it. Did you know that the word used to mean ”trickery and deceit”? In fact, that is pretty much all that management is today. It is the art and science of tricking people into doing what you believe is best for you and your organization. We manipulate the office environment so that people would spend more time working - trickery and deceit. We create a set of bonus schemes and high-sounding promises of success, so you would work more than your contract states - trickery and deceit. We push people to achieve targets, and goals so that the shareholders can reap the benefits - trickery, and deceit.

Management, at the very core (as already discussed) - assumes that the employee is lazy and untrustworthy and therefore must be carefully tricked, ideally without them noticing, to get him or her to do anything at all. We have become so good at this, that even professional managers do not realize that they are masters of trickery and deceit. Trust me, I have been there.

It is of importance to state, that I do not believe that all management is de-facto bad, as it often helps people to get better at their jobs and to increase their quality of life. Some managers by ‘role’, are actually not using any of the aforementioned methods either. However, in general - management is just a lazy approach to leadership and guidance.

In contrast to poor managers great leaders, and guides, have an innate understanding that for the organization to succeed, each individual must succeed - individually and personally.

Therefore, the approach is altogether different. The goal of true leadership is not trickery, but getting everyone to do their best for their own selves, and to unite them behind a singular goal.

This is often done rather well in team sports. If you are the coach of a professional NBA team (great book on the topic), then you must find a way to motivate each and every single player, you must uncover their strengths and weaknesses, you must adapt a unique and individual approach so as to help them in their path, and then you must figure out how to create cohesion between this individual player and the rest of the team. You are acting as a therapist, life coach, meditation expert, motivator, tactician, strategist, dietician, relationship counselor and so much more. That is a lot of work. Unlike management. In this role - you are a guide.

So if you are in a management position of any kind, as an experiment - try to think of yourself as a guide. Do not set goals and direction, as well as areas of accountability - and simply wait for people to succeed or fail. That is lazy.

Instead, try to help and guide every single person you touch to a better life, better understanding of themselves, and deeper set of values and goals - so as to make sure the goals and accountabilities they set for themselves can be met. If they are failing - you are failing.

If, on the other hand, you work under ‘management’, then you must break free from thinking that you need to conform, stick to the rules, wait for tasks to be assigned to you, or achieve arbitrary and totally pointless tasks. If there is no leader your heart is willing to follow, you must be your own leader for the time being.

⚡ The Action

If you are a manager: Stop giving out tasks. Have a sincere and deep one-on-one with everyone on your team. Understand what makes them tick. Start guiding. Stop managing.

If you are an employee: Do something in the organization that would make your life better, and easier. Change a process. Question a policy. Initiate a change. Be your own guide.