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Leadership quality feels like it has declined as I’ve gotten older. When I began my career Stephen Covey was all the rage. Traditional leadership training was a
by ryanmarsh 9y ago
Leadership quality feels like it has declined as I’ve gotten older. When I began my career Stephen Covey was all the rage. Traditional leadership training was a necessity for middle managers moving up the ranks.
Then something changed. Having a softer touch became more important than results. This weird sort of litigation-phobic (pardon my inarticulate explanation) approach to all things took hold. Managers stopped giving clear feedback. They stopped assigning work, merely suggesting it. It’s completely bizarre. Especially when you’ve been in the military and seen real decentralized and self organizing leadership work.
These days as a consultant I go in and basically fill a leadership vacuum at each of my clients. I tell them this too. They shrug and keep shuffling and saying things that mean nothing. So weird. I don’t understand the corporate world.
- 3pt14159 9y agoI think it has more to do with the average amount of time spent at an organization. I consult for the Canadian government from time to time and I see plenty of great managers there. The main difference? Most people there for more than 2 or 3 years are there for life. They get to see the results of prolonged good leadership and they get to learn from leaders that they trust. With tech you have random 27 year olds as C-levels at eight or nine digit valued companies (that was me some years back) and there's no way that you have the skill or experience or even respect for the position to do it well.
- tyingq 9y agoDon't know why your comment is being downvoted. False politeness is a real issue in many organizations. You're frustrated with me, but afraid to say why. That situation won't resolve itself.