by Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Leadership Solutions, Inc.®

“Primarily it’s raging incompetence that we find too often in police departments that we go into,” said Tom Dart, the Cook County sheriff, who has found untested kits in towns other than Robbins. “It’s a combination of raging incompetence and just not caring.” Article NY Times Sunday Review, May 2015, by Judith Shulevitz, ‘Despite DNA, the Rapist Got Away.”

   Police departments are first class examples of  ‘command and control’ environments. Despite that, it shocks people to realize that thousands of rape cases go unresolved in California alone, despite all the saved rape kits, because cops just cannot be bothered with them.

It’s a classic illustration of how command and control environments can cause workplace people to become inure to real social or organizational issues. In other words, where those in “command” show little interest in an issue, then those they “control” show little interest, too – even though that shouldn’t be the case. Do you see similar situations in your workplace?

In command and control workplaces, they seek out and attract conformists who are happy to go along with the order of the day – almost without question. The thinkers, who invariably have other ideas, usually go elsewhere: where their creative thoughts and views are more appreciated. Beyond that, the individuals who most ‘toe the party line’ and ‘go with the flow’ are the ones who are promoted. And so like all those police departments, where unresolved rape kits accumulate, command and control keeps everything in order but doesn’t make any real progress. What sort of people does your enterprise attract?

For those of you who are concerned about this phenomena, you have three likely choices: How can we prevent this from happening? Leave things just as they are. How can we turn things around?

Since “leaving things as they are” doesn’t require an answer, we can focus our attention on the other two:

» How can we prevent this from happening? Firstly, aim to be an enlightened leader rather than a traditional manager. The former will regularly challenge you to collaborate with your people to create and regularly update a far-reaching strategic framework for your team or organization – this will include an exciting vision, engaging purpose, and key objectives… all coupled with special know-how and vital resources to pull them off.

All intentions will be focused on exceeding customer, staff, leader, supplier and “owner” expectations. Hence they will be part of a people-purpose-driven culture, rather than a manager’s fixation of just making money. Where you exceed stakeholder expectations, you can make all the money your marketplace will allow.

Secondly, build a team of “thinkers” rather than yes-men around you. Traditional managers love yes-men: people who are just willing to ‘go with the flow.’

Thirdly, ensure you challenge yourself to become an excellent leader through your vision, integrity, courage and worldly-wisdom. Demonstrate this wherever you can, through showing your people it’s all about them rather than you.

» How can you turn things around? Firstly, this will require a degree of patience. Secondly, you’ll have to look around and determine if there are any enlightened key people you can build upon. If so, your best bet is to pull them aside and collaborate with them to build a fresh strategic framework – see earlier.

If not, it will then be incumbent upon you to do what all leaders do in similar situations. They face reality and start replacing those most afflicted by the “go-with-the flow” disease. Such people are encouraged to go and find an entity that wants people of such dispositions – and there’s an overwhelming number of them out there. Then you seek out those of a more enlightened breed. By starting with replacing the least effective team members, the chances are others will step-up more and so the tide will begin to turn.

Turning a ship around, unless it’s small, takes time and patience. However, as your re-booted key team steps-up more, so they will start challenging and replacing people in their teams to step-up accordingly. Everyone should be infected with a more people-purpose-driven vision. Such activities will inspire people to step-up and allow for intense coaching-mentoring, or move out. Don’t forget, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

The key during such turn-arounds, is to rebuild confidence in your enlightened leader approach – where you concentrate on doing the right things, in the name of effectiveness. Managers are inclined to focus on doing things right, all in the name of efficiency. And so the wrong emphasis tends to cause things to become bogged down.

With your leadership-doing-the-right things  approach; progress might seem a little slow at the outset, but momentum will undoubtedly build. Changing from a “command and control” culture to a “people-purpose-driven” culture isn’t so easy. Culture changes don’t happen overnight because they require a different attitude among the participants, and experienced leaders know that takes a degree of focus and perseverance.

   Judging by the quoted article, Tom Dart, has done a good job within his own police department by making his officers more responsive and “care” more because he cares. He has aimed to move away from a typical police force command and control mentality and get his officers to take more responsibility for doing the right things. Do you do that, too?

The Times’ writer concludes: “Many Americans bristle at accusations there is a rape culture.” Whatever you call it, it symbolizes a lackadaisical attitude toward serious issues, all inculcated by command and control cultures, since most thinking people would never ignore these situations.

When clients start talking to this writer about insufficient attention being paid to key issues, he immediately starts looking at the nature of his client’s leadership and the culture that has been developed. This can be fixed, if the leaders act and lead in the right way. Have you any idea how much better your organization will perform over time, if you can avoid building a command and control culture and inspire a people-purpose-driven one instead?

To learn more about your organization’s culture, talk with: