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The 21st Century Arm Chair Manager

How many managers start their day in office by first enquiring about the wellbeing of their subordinates before requesting them the work status? How natural is it for a manager to spot the positives behind the mistakes of their employees instead of making them feel useless and guilty? How often can you spot a manager who loves delegating some responsibilities down the line instead of accumulating power all to themselves? How easy is it for a manager to trust their team to develop their own systems instead of demanding proof for each and every work being carried out?

The answer to the questions above can throw some light on the Leadership trait or capability of a Manager. Much of the 21^st century Manager is prone to be an “arm chair” Leader rather than an “inspirational” Leader. An arm chair Leader is a transactional Leader. Sitting on a high pedestal, a transactional Leader promises employees incentives or threatens them with dire consequences, in order to get work completed. On the other hand, an inspirational Leader appeals to their employees’ inner ambition and desire. An inspirational Leader knows that in order to extract the maximum potential from their team, they need to first sell the vision of how engaging in a particular work is important and beneficial.

One reason why many managers prefer not to be an inspirational Leader is the fact that much work today is dull, monotonous and brings little intrinsic reward. Moreover, in such a work environment, a transactional type of Leadership ensures quick results, if one can discount the quality of work and employee turnover. On the flip side, many employees today work just to receive some sort of compensation. Rarely are employees self-motivated to work, as they struggle to find meaning in their jobs. Consequently, they find little pride in what they do and end up delivering sub-standard output.

Gallup estimates that Managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business units. The dismal failure experience by such poor motivators (read as managers) is partly due to their inability to understand the needs of their employees, as articulated by Abraham Maslow. While it may look like there is a hierarchy of needs, there are many white-collar-workers, for whom the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. And in some cases, creative fulfillment supersedes even the most basic human needs.

Hence, the need of the hour is an inspirational Leader, who can appeal to the higher needs of an individual, namely self-esteem and leading a meaningful life. And, the basic (ABC) approach of an inspirational Leader in building (read as motivating) a team which is engaged and excels is as follows.

A degree of Autonomy: Inspirational Leaders seldom micro-manage. Instead, they provide their team with some degree of autonomy in decision making and freedom to experiment with their ideas. At the same time, an inspirational Leader often reminds the team of high expectations, thereby ensuring the freedom is always put to good use.  A good example of this approach is to provide a “manager sans day” every week, where employees are encouraged not to disturb their manager for trivial issues.

A sense of Belonging: Inspirational Leaders instill a sense of pride within their team. And this is achieved by delegating some responsibilities, covering their employees’ back when the chips are down and by utilizing their core strengths. Also, employees feel a sense of belonging when their Leader shows tremendous concern in their future growth by providing job-rotation, mentorship and training. A good example of this approach is to provide employees with “in-house internship day” every quarter, where they are made familiar with a department or job related to their work.

A dose of Creativity: Inspirational Leaders are great visionaries. They ensure their team works on jobs which are stimulating and meaningful. In fact, these Leaders use their well-honed imagination to even convert dull and routine jobs into challenging and meaningful assignments. A good example of this approach is where the role of a receptionist can be combined with some data entry work.

Poor managers cost Organizations millions of dollars every year. Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup, once quipped, “no amount of expensive programs a company institutes to increase employee engagement will make any difference, if people are stuck with bad bosses.” It is time for C-suite Leaders to devote their attention in developing inspirational Leaders. One of the ways to onboard inspirational Leaders is to watch them young instead of catching them old. Watch out for qualities like humility, ability to appreciate others, probing skills, taking initiatives and the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn. A prudent management will promote employees like these to the manager role instead of mindlessly churning out managers based on experience and technical expertise alone. And until this happens, it wouldn’t be a cliché to say, “people don’t leave their jobs; they leave their managers!”