High-Performance Management and Teams - a new leadership model
A paper on a new leadership model that transitions organizations from the Traditional management model to the progressive Transformational model
Context
If you have been in management, received any management training or have attained an MBA during the last 30 years, you are almost certainly managing in accordance with the now 100-year-old Traditional management style also called the command and control structure. This model dominates the organizational landscape with over 90% of today's organizations using it.
Many employees in organisations today are dissatisfied with their jobs, feeling economically trapped, angry, frustrated, and unable to better their situation.
The cause of this dissatisfaction may stretch back to the early 1880s and the Industrial Revolution where cotton mills enforced a type of control we know today as the Traditional management model or command and control structure — a term referring to keeping subordinates in line. This management approach, based on the hierarchical and often brutal British military and naval traditions, typically involved the development and implementation of strict rules of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour with harsh consequences for breaking the rules. The Traditional approach underwent a refinement in the 1920s and another after WWII bringing about the management model that dominates many of today’s organisations.
Having gone virtually unchanged for almost 100 years, this model is typically structured like this: A senior executive or board holds all the power; they are in command and use their power and influence to lead. They appear at the top of the organisation chart. Below them are senior managers, then middle managers, with employees at the bottom. We call this an organisational hierarchy.
According to the author and organisational development expert, Peter Block, Traditional-style leaders are the senior managers who command respect through seniority and years of service, often viewed as tyrannical and intimidating. Their job is to plan, organise employees, and direct and control. They set expectations for the employees below them who need to meet certain goals, but the manager receives the reward for achieving those goals. These managers also tend to experience a frequent turnover of employees.
New ideas from employees are not always welcomed; the managers see themselves as the source of all new business and ways of working. They can be blind to work and employment issues and slow to react to change. Regrettably, the employees have learned that the way their manager’s act is what the path to success looks like, so they model it.
The biggest problem with the Traditional model is that you have managers working within a strict hierarchy who can be intimidating people in positions of power who can be coercive, dictatorial, distrusting, and who can go as far as treating their staff as subordinates with little value. Employees are growing frustrated at not having input into their work and they frequently leave when better opportunities arise. Employees are insisting on higher levels of job satisfaction and want their managers to be open and honest, fair and reasonable, and to value them and their contributions.
Increasing competition and rapid changes in technology are fortunately starting to move the Traditional model into the background. Progressive leaders have known for decades that the Traditional, hierarchical pyramid model is hopelessly outdated. It does not suit today’s fast-moving environment, nor does it suit today’s employees. Its rigidity cannot support agility, speed, or engagement, and then there is the troubling aspect of vesting of too much often-abusive power in managers over their employees.
Maren Fox of Berrett Koehler believes that progressive organisations and leaders are motivated by improving the well-being of people and communities in ways that have lasting, intrinsic value. A progressive management style is marked by transparency and sharing information with employees and that progressive leaders empower everyone and increase collaboration. Progressive leadership offers a clear alternative to the traditional, command-and-control model that has dominated the leadership model conversation for so long. It is a leadership style that values sharing and collaboration.
Progressive organisations use the newer Transformational leadership model
According to Bernard M Basa, author and researcher on Transformational leadership, Transformational leaders tend to be more charismatic, and they are excellent motivators able to get people to do more than they thought possible. He goes on to say, - these leaders inspire followers with challenge and persuasion, providing meaning and understanding; they are intellectually stimulating. The leader is individually considerate, is admired, respected, and trusted with high standards of ethical and moral conduct. They actively mentor and coach. Creativity is encouraged with no room for public criticism of individual members’ mistakes. They pay special attention to each individual’s needs for achievement and growth, and their behaviour demonstrates acceptance of individual differences.
Transformational leaders motivate their employees to do more than they thought was possible. They set challenging expectations and typically achieve higher performance outcomes from their employees. They manage people as valuable individuals, identifying and developing their talents. They are supportive, encouraging and motivational. They are role models who are respected and trusted, and they build high-performance teams.
High-Performance Management and Teams model
In my 45 years working in a range of organizations with many kinds of managers, rescuing and building teams, I have learnt a great deal about people and people in the workplace. This has resulted in my compiling a catalogue of the very best behaviours, methods and techniques that I have witnessed, been engaged in, experimented with and implemented. This catalogue represents what I believe every manager needs to know in order to succeed.
Using the catalogue I created a new management model called the High-Performance Management and Teams model.
This is a transitional model that facilitates the following:
It builds a bridge between the older, outdated Traditional management model and the newer, progressive Transformational leadership model.
It trains Traditional managers on Transformational techniques.
It creates a pathway to transition from the Traditional to a Transformational structure by the building of both Great and High-Performance Teams.
It allows the Traditional and Transformational styles to productively coexist and be complementary to each other, producing new and significant outcomes for employers and employees alike.
The use of a Transformational leadership style combined with the Management and Teams management model has a positive influence on the behaviours of Traditional managers, making them more open, collaborative, and far more considerate towards the needs and development of their employees. Their job satisfaction levels also go up and their stress and anxiety levels tend to go down.