By: Carol Vallone Mitchell Ph.D. , Talent Strategy Partners LLC
“Traditional” directive leadership appears to have gotten a second wind. Leadership consultants at Korn Ferry report a resurgence of top-down management as evidenced in the return-to-office mandates and public comments by some CEOs criticizing underperformers. Corporate leaders, particularly in tech and finance, seem emboldened by a “move fast and break things” mentality. Executives who confidently navigate disruption, make tough decisions, and do it with bravado are often celebrated.
Historically, tight control and chain-of-command leadership were essential in a task-based, manufacturing-oriented world of work. Although those environments still exist, organizations are now predominantly knowledge-based and matrixed, organized by project, product, or process rather than by a hierarchical structure.
So why this resurgence of directive leadership? Maybe it never really went away.
There have always been leaders who, under pressure, double down on their directive style, trying to gain control, perhaps to ease their own discomfort. And we are certainly living in a more turbulent time. But despite the authoritative, chainsaw-cutting behaviors demonstrated in the current environment, both inside and outside our corporate walls, this is not the type of leadership companies need now.
What Today’s World of Work Demands
For over a decade, thought leaders have discussed how the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world in which we live (a VUCA world), requires the skills exhibited by collaborative leaders. Such leaders put ego aside, involve people with relevant expertise in decision-making, and display empathy and trust. They foster unity across organizational silos to make decisions quickly, gain cross-functional collaboration, and create cohesive teams.
Research by McKinsey and others consistently shows that companies embracing collaborative leadership outperform their peers and experience greater innovation, higher employee engagement, and long-term profitability.
So, again, why this resurgence of directive leadership? Do leaders believe that maintaining or gaining control requires them to abandon empathy and trust?
It’s Not Either/Or: Leaders Can Drive and Care at the Same Time
HBR recently published research showing there is not a necessary trade-off between making progress and taking care of people. Leaders can be inclusive and empathetic while still maintaining control, and in fact, such leaders often achieve better results.
Although collaborative leadership is best known for its features of inclusiveness, empathy, and emotional intelligence, it is not devoid of driving results, or holding people accountable for achieving challenging goals. In fact, these are key leadership skills in the portfolios of collaborative leaders. What makes the difference is how collaborative leaders exhibit these skills.
Two Skills That Set Collaborative Leaders Apart
In my twenty years of studying successful collaborative leaders, I’ve discovered that there are two skills that allow them to be directive without losing employee engagement and participation: driving mission and meaningfulness, and cultivating shared accountability.
Driving Mission and Meaningfulness
Collaborative leaders inspire others to embrace the mission of the organization as a catalyst to unify the workforce. They reinforce the purpose of the organization, tell a compelling story of “who we are” and “where we are going.” They foster an ethical culture and mentor emerging leaders who will care for the culture.
With purpose front and center, leaders enable their employees to appreciate the “why” and get on board with initiatives. Communicating a shared sense of purpose creates alignment so people can productively engage in collective problem solving and decision making. In this environment, leaders do not need to rely on command-and-control tactics to push progress.
Cultivating Shared Accountability
Collaborative leaders cultivate accountability, making it a reciprocal imperative by sharing goals and by holding themselves responsible for their peopleʻs success. They actively contract with others, clarify roles, and clearly communicate how each person contributes. They fuel others’ efforts by expressing confidence that they “can do it,” and they work alongside them to ensure that they do. They build a network of relationships to stay connected and monitor project progress, creating a process to maintain collaboration and accountability in a collegial way.
Rather than the old way of driving accountability by “holding their feet to the fire,” collaborative leaders coach people to greater performance. They focus on getting their team into a “cadence” where they establish interdependencies around goals.
Driving mission and meaningfulness, and cultivating shared accountability engage people and build trust while driving productivity and accountability. They orchestrate to direct, coordinating people around organizational purpose and shared goals.
About the Author
Carol Vallone Mitchell Ph.D. In 2001, Carol co-founded Talent Strategy Partners LLC, a leadership development consultancy that helps companies maintain a robust leadership pipeline through succession planning and leadership development.
Carol’s leadership research led to authoring the books Collaboration Code: How Men Lead Culture Change and Nurture Tomorrow’s Leaders and Breaking Through “Bitch”: How Women Can Shatter Stereotypes and Lead Fearlessly. She has written numerous articles for the Huffington Post and other publications, including Chief Learning Officer, TD magazine, Forbes, WorldatWork Workspan, Thrive Global, Philadelphia Business Journal, and Fast Company.
Carol received her doctorate in Organizational Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania, where she developed a behavioral profile of success for women leaders. Carol is chair of the Leadership Subgroup for Beacon, a premier executive networking organization. She is also a member of Philly SHRM’s Thought Leadership Team.
Contact Information:
Carol Vallone Mitchell, Talent Strategy Partners LLC | http://www.tsphr.com | cvmitchell@tsphr.com | https://www.carolvallonemitchell.com
Editor: Dennis Paris
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