Everyone a leader in the 21st
century - focus on management policies for the next century
by Robert Alan Black, Ph.D., CSP,
DLA
As the 20th century ends, so must
the techniques of management that have evolved over the past 100 years and have
brought the era some of its greatest successes. Countries around the world that
have applied "modern" principles of management over the past 10
decades have achieved great production and wealth. But the traditional
management principles of our era will not dictate the successes of the 21st
century.
The management principles of the
20th century have tended to be short-sighted and narrow in scope with regard to
people, too inflexible and resistant to change, slow to respond to opportunity,
and too focused on avoiding risk. Management in the 20th century has focused on
mass production, simplified and easily replicated products or services,
centralized control, and minimum change.
Yet the evidence of the past two
decades is clear, and shows an increasing trend toward micro-production, i.e.,
nearly individualized production of extremely specific products or services.
This type of production is driven by individual client or customer needs and is
controlled by employees and customers; it thus is extremely flexible and adapts
easily to change.
Such capacity for change,
variety, and individualism is not consistent with the general, large-scale
thinking of management of the 20th century.
The primary skills of
management--planning, organizing, goal setting, monitoring, evaluating, and
decision-making--will not be unimportant; on the contrary, these skills will be
needed more than ever before. But limiting the decision-making authority and
responsibility to a few isolated man-agers will no longer be possible.
Management responsibilities will need to be shared among the many.
Research and empirical examples
from all occupational categories of business and industry in the United States
suggest that individuals do not want, or enjoy, feeling they are being managed.
It also shows these same individuals can manage themselves effectively and
efficiently. This attitude, combined with the self-management trends
(participatory to autonomous) of the past two or three decades, indicates that
the 21st century may require that everyone become a self-manager--and manage
his or her work, time, production, quality, and goals.
All employees can become
self-managers. If an employee is properly trained in basic management skills,
(including job-related planning, organizing, goal setting, standard setting,
work measurement, information processing, resource control, and decision
making), the employee can manage his or her work, job procedures, or
production.
And after all employees are
trained and experienced in self-management, they can be trained to become
leaders. Not all will be able to be leaders of the same types of people, or of
the same size groups or teams, or of the same scale of work or projects; their
scope of responsibility will depend on the circumstances and situations
involved and on the employee. But in general, each individual can be taught to
be a leader, assuming the individual possesses normal intelligence, receives
quality training, and has an adequate opportunity to apply newly acquired
skills and abilities. At the same time that people are taught leadership
skills, they also need to be taught skills of effective
"followership," which are often taken for granted as "common
sense."
Skill in leadership is especially
important is when directing the efforts of a team. Effective teams require
effective leadership. The most productive teams are those that can evolve to
meet demands as required. For this to happen, leaders must be available to step
forward and lead the team effectively. If employees also have been trained as
"followers," this approach can be even more productive.
Will all employees want to be
leader? No. But many situations will arise, on an almost daily basis, when
organizations will benefit from each employee being capable of stepping in and
leading, at least for a short period of time.
If all employees are trained in
basic leadership skills, the organization benefits. Initially it will benefit
from the understanding of leadership that employees will gain. The organization
will continue to gain from the increased respect given to the existing
effective leaders. It also will benefit from the increased quality that will be
achieved when current leaders learn more about their own previous management
mistakes and begin working more efficiently and effectively.
True leaders and followers are
committed to their jobs and their organizations as well as to projects, other
employees, and other leaders. Such commitment generates a senses of purpose, a
high degree of respect, extensive involvement, dedication, and enthusiasm. All
these factors result in ever-increasing quality, production, and profit.
Robert A. Black, PhD, is
president of Cre8ng People, Places & Possibilities a consulting firm based in
Athens, Ga., specializing in leadership, communication, teamwork, and creative
thinking training.
