Why Everyone in an Enterprise Can - and Should - Be a Leader (page 4 of 4)

I'm hearing more and more that formal mentoring programs don't necessarily work. It's the informal development of people that may matter more."

A Reluctance to Lead
Useem notes that people occupying the middle and lower levels of organizations sometimes resist, or even resent, bearing the mantle of leadership. Leadership is something for senior people to do, the thinking goes, and, after all, the rank and file are not paid to lead anybody. "Yes, you often hear people say those kinds of things: 'They pay the execs at top level the big bucks to be leaders. But I think it's a misstatement of what is required. Your leadership will have less impact at a lower level, by definition. Therefore you're paid less. But leadership, in my view, is still obligatory on the part of everyone."

Robert Felton, a McKinsey director and manager of the firm's Seattle office, has had extensive experience studying change management. He says organizations that wish to improve and adapt with the times may find that middle managers are not only unwilling to act as leaders in fostering change but will actually work to thwart it -- not out of malice but out of inertia and a stubborn unwillingness to think and act in different ways.

It may seem counterintuitive, but when it comes to identifying and tackling problems, senior executives and front-line employees, along with their immediate supervisors, are often the groups of employees who see eye-to-eye on the need for action. The stumbling block to fixing what is wrong frequently is middle management.

"The problem comes in the middle," says Felton. "The middle manager, in my view, tends to overcome many, many change initiatives from both directions. CEOs are trying to change things from top, and front-line people are trying to change things from the bottom, and middle managers kill it. The middle manager is generally the enemy of serious change."

To avoid this situation, Felton suggests that organizations recognize that they employ two kinds of middle managers. The first group consists of managers who possess neither the mettle nor the inclination to rise through the ranks but play vital roles because they have experience and know their jobs inside and out. The second group consists of people on the promotion track who may some day reach the senior level.

Both types of managers are necessary to organizations but both are also quite capable of thwarting necessary change if they find it in their interest to do so. If senior executives want to initiate change of any kind, Felton recommends that they form a special task force with the front-line folks who share the view that change is required and have them report directly to the senior people rather than middle management - at least until the task is accomplished and perhaps permanently.

Says Felton: "You need to create a partnership between the senior people and the front-line people -- and the front-line people need to be empowered. If they work for middle management, they will never be empowered." Eliminating layers of middle management permanently can also reap rewards, as was famously demonstrated at General Electric under former chief executive Jack Welch.

Felton adds that middle managers who embrace change are exerting leadership by setting an example for their peers and direct reports. In doing so, they are also putting themselves in a better position for promotion to more senior levels.

As people grow as leaders, they are likely to find that their ability to lead requires a more sophisticated and less direct approach. "You have to find ways to influence people and inspire people around a vision," says Handfield-Jones. "Then you have to shape that vision and shape the culture and values of your organization. You also have to have the fairly sophisticated leadership skill of making sure the leaders who report to you are themselves effective leaders to their people. So you're reaching more broadly and more indirectly than your own immediate circle."

And how, exactly, does someone with little or no managerial or supervisory experience go about taking that first step toward being a leader? "It simply involves an act of will," says Useem. "You must simply decide, 'I'm going to step forward to make a difference. I'm going to offer fresh insights and get people excited about where this company or organization ought to go.' Leadership is a matter of personal commitment and drive."