Senin, 13 Juni 2011

Management Failure

Creating good governance will always be a challenge. During the progress of leadership, many mistakes happened. Almost every leadership action bares consequences. Below are several errors that could possibly happened in leading a unit/department:

• One man show
Dividing a unit job to several tasks and assigning 1 person for each task is one of management strategies that can be called specialization. However, without backups, specialization will turn into one man show, meaning only certain people can do certain tasks. What would happen if that person gone? Resign? Take a leave? Specialization without backup is a recipe for disaster. It has potential to lose you a customer or even stop the whole unit process.

• Autocracy
It is a manager’s job to provide directions and guidance for his/her unit. Nevertheless, directions need to be accompanied with trust and some levels of autonomy. Subordinates must be empowered to work on their tasks with minimum interference. There is nothing wrong with a strong leadership. But it would only apply as long as the leader presents. What happen if somehow the leader is removed? It could ruin the whole unit performance.

• Role Model Failure
Even with any degree of autonomy, eventually subordinates will look for samples from their superior. One of the most important roles of being a leader is to be the decision maker. Leaders who often fail to take decision on behalf of their subordinates will lose their respect. De Jure Leaders are those who are supposed to take the decision, but those who are really taking the decision will be De Facto Leaders in their Unit.

• Generously Unfair
Everybody wants a nice and supportive leader to work with. Those, who always smile, never angry even when faced with some mistakes, give high scores during appraisal times, will be the top in the leadership ladder. But, it turns out that Mr/Ms Favorite is far from being a good manager. Good managers know when and how to compare their staff and evaluate them accordingly. Besides, good managers know not only how to support, but also how to educate and correct some mistakes.

Too much of anything can be a dangerous thing, even in the governing framework. Some say “Leaders are not born, it is made”, I couldn’t agree more. Moreover, during the “made” period, leaders must be bold enough to try, critical enough to evaluate, and humble enough to correct.

Selfish leader with great results is a strong leader,
Selfish leader with no results is an egocentric freak,
Unselfish leader with great results is a team player,
Unselfish leader with no results is stupid and indecisive

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