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

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good (wo)men to do what (s)he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” Adapted from Theodore Roosevelt quote.

    

   Time and again this writer thinks about why we’re so fixated with supervising employees rather than viewing our people-contributors as desiring to be focused and led. Too often he comes back with a number of the same conclusions. He knows full well that when people are supervised they are not as creative or productive: except, maybe, in short bursts.

   Put someone at the helm of a gaggle of people and 70%+ of the time it’s like a ‘red rag to a bull.’ They think in terms of supervising that gaggle. Ironically, it’s the 20%+ who don’t resort to classic supervision that obtain the best overall people results because they lead instead. It almost seems counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Note the jaded face.

Before we go too much further, it seems appropriate to clarify the difference between ‘conventional supervision’ and enlightened leadership. Conventional supervision finds those ‘in-charge’ looking over their people’s shoulders, second guessing them, and actively controlling their work lives. Enlightened leaders, on the other hand, aim to empower people, give them benefit of the doubt, and keep them focused. They see their people as contributors, in terms of high contri-butors, contributors or non-contributors. In the latter case, they encourage them to go elsewhere. What is your approach?

    While we’re at it, there’s a big difference between control and focus. Control, in its extreme form, is constantly checking-up on people to determine if they’re following policies and procedures – it’s rather like referees blowing their whistle every moment a player slightly deviates from game rules. We’ve all witnessed player frustration and truculence when that happens. Sooner or later, player misbehavior starts erupting everywhere and the referee loses control. Ironic, isn’t it? Players come away lamenting a miserable game rather than an enjoyable one: all because of control. 

    Focus, on the other hand, is all about keeping people concentrated on the desired outcome; the right destination. But only after discussing potential approaches and then leaving team members to accomplish them – through their own lens as much as possible. It still allows for cursory monitoring, although done with a sense of trust knowing that team members have the know-how and resources to pull-off what’s required. No doubt you can see the distinct difference?

    If that’s the case, why are we so drawn to supervision? Without putting them in any order, some of the potential reasons are:     

    » Past Role Models – For historical reasons, emanating from the industrial revolution and beyond, we have developed a strong supervisory mentality. It promotes innate wisdom that people are under-educated, tend to be lazy, and need to be ‘driven.’ Hence they need to be supervised. From this archaic philosophy we have produced legions of super-visors. Each generation inculcates the next generation with the same thinking.

 » Command and Control Environments – These were especially developed by Fredrick W. Taylor and his cohorts during the early 1900s, in the name of industrial efficiency. It was further reinforced by the military mass-mobilizations related to a number of wars. We became stuck in a world of control and squeeze.

» Parental Conditioning – Parents who grew up in these earlier eras became over-indulgent supervisors themselves and with their kids, too. Even though those kids eventually rebelled against it during their teens, they ultimately settled down and perpetuated the same mold. Today they’re known as helicopter parents – always hovering.

  Those few parents, who break the mold and empower their offspring, within more mature and reasonable guidelines, likely raise more mature and productive kids.  

» Our Own Personalities – Some of us are endowed with more controlling personalities, which may have been reinforced by parental or prior organizational influences. It’s important for us to recognize our inclinations and decide if they’re a help or hindrance, in terms of maximizing our people’s performance.

     This writer has concluded that micro-management or supervision is not necessary on a day-to-day basis, if people are properly led. If you babysit your people, they will either act like babies or leave. If you abdicate your people leadership responsibilities, then your people will abdicate theirs, too, or leave. If you offer the right balance, you will encourage an acceptable level of responsibility and performance. If that responsibility and performance is then encouraged in the right way, it will flourish beyond your best expectations.

     Supervision is the inverse of leadership and we often use the former due to our inability to lead. If you lead properly, situations will invariably turn out better than you can imagine. Your people will, more often than not, enjoy your leadership but resent being overly supervised. You lose their personal respect and dignity when you supervise.

     Ultimately, our staff surveys show that even the more enlightened organizations miss out on 20-30% potential performance: especially if they mix their leadership activities with too many conventional management tools and behavior. Such behaviors include: ‘grillings,’ performance appraisals, directives, and mandates. They also include fear, micro-management, control, restricting know-how and resources, and so on.

The optimum solution is enlightened leadership where its tools define a compelling vision along with respect, achievement, camaraderie, trust, and providing sufficient know-how and resources. Enlightened leadership provides a nice balance between a firm focus and being purely inspirational. It also brings facilitation and orchestration to bear rather than ‘pushing’ and ‘driving’ people. The latter wear people out rather quickly, as well as bring out your people’s stubborn side.

    As the famed WWII, General George S. Patton was quoted as saying: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what needs to be done and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”  Say no more…about supervision.

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