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Leadership Scaffolding
Abstract
Leadership Scaffolding discusses the practicalities for middle managers of leadership - providing readers with the framework or scaffolding to being an effective manager. It's not theory - it's all about what the seriously good managers actually 'do'. When we start our careers, we learn in compartments: this course on delegation, that workshop on motivation. Of course hit and run training courses help us, as does a good role model or two, but the best managers are the ones who construct a framework of actions around the main focus of getting the job done that means it gets done more efficiently, with less stress and is ultimately more rewarding for all concerned.The good news is that although there are some common, threads this framework, or scaffolding, has different shapes - depending on your unique business or management style. This book provides readers with that framework or scaffolding.
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Many managers feel overwhelmed. They have too many problems - too many monkeys-on their backs. All too often, they say, they find themselves running out of time while their subordinates are running out of work. Such is the common phenomenon described by the late William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass in this 1974 HBR classic. They tell the engaging story of an overburdened manager who has unwittingly taken on all of his subordinates' problems. If, for example, an employee has a problem and the manager says,"Let me think about that and get back to you," the monkey has just leaped from the subordinate's back to the manager's. This article describes how the manager can delegate effectively to keep most monkeys on the subordinate's back. It offers suggestions on the care and feeding of monkeys and on how managers can transfer initiative. In his accompanying commentary, Stephen R. Covey discusses both the enduring power of this message and how theories of time management have progressed beyond these ideas. Management thinkers and executives alike now realize that bosses cannot just give a monkey back to their subordinates. Subordinates must first be empowered, and that's hard and complicated work. it means bosses have to develop their subordinates and establish trust. Perhaps even more important and relevant than it was 25 years ago, Covey says, this article is a powerful wake-up call for managers at risk for carrying too many monkeys.