|
n the fierce economic competition of a global economy, the only way for the U.S. to maintain and perhaps achieve ‘an edge' is to retool from the bottom up...from education into the actual workplace. Will the management and leadership philosophies keep pace with a President who understands that innovations and technology are key drivers for a major turnaround?
As President Obama becomes our nation's CEO, I wonder if the President's important message that a highly motivated, innovative, nimble, and techno-savvy work force will be the driver of change is being heard by today's business or taught to future generation of business leaders. To emphasize, the word nimble is crucial. It's the ability to alter your course quickly in response to an evolving picture. That's precisely what's happening now as everyone struggles to make the changes that are necessary in the face of the economic recovery.
The current President is working in the same kind of hostile environment that many mangers are finding themselves in. There's no wiggle room in the current economic climate and no margin for error. Things are moving and changing quickly and that leads to tremendous uneasiness at all levels. We can compare the national scene to a similar scenario being played out at businesses everywhere. The pervasiveness of downsizing as a quick-fix solution to plummeting stock prices has virtually eliminated middle management and placed heavy burdens on those who remain.
Perhaps the biggest burden is restoring trust.
Whom Do You Trust?
Trust is a key and basic component to any relationship weather on a personal or professional level. And trust is in very short supply whether you are talking about doing business in the halls of government or on Main Street. Executives and senior leaders are unclear themselves as to their own roles and to their own futures. In the meantime, beneath them, the doers'...the actual workforce itself...is functioning in a similar atmosphere of fear and powerlessness, suspicious of their leaders.
And why not? Even in good times, most senior leaders...especially in very large organizations...were hardly visible to the rank and file. With the exception of an annual corporate function or a disembodied video ‘town hall' rah-rah session, leaders weren't seen or heard by the general staff. After decades of lay-low leadership, that self-protective style has trickled down to the workforce.
It's a sad state of affairs when an employee thinks, "If I stay under the radar I will not get fired or downsized".
Visible Trust
To combat this tendency, leaders and senior managers should be encouraged to take a page from the Obama leadership playbook. Weather you agree or disagree with the current President, you will need to note that President Obama has been highly visible, talking ‘directly' to the American people on a regular basis.
I think the President understands the importance that putting a ‘human face' on business can have. The seismic shift in our political and economic landscape has left everyone feeling lost and shell-shocked. However, President Obama's personal style is an asset for communicating a message of strength and trust, but still, a tremendous level of stress remains for the average worker.
The antidote will come from business leaders.
Don't hide in your office. Do not be afraid of talking with your staff honestly, alerting them to anticipated changes, and preparing them for continuous, unforeseen challenges, too. With the economic downturn, with the middle management virtually being wiped away and millions of workers laid off, this old American Industrial churn and burn mentality leaves behind lots of psychologically disabled executives and employees.
On the Horizon
If you are part of the current workforce, you must wonder what is happening in today's corporate culture to address this situation. The questions we should all ask are "How can companies regain the trust of senior leadership? How can leaders re-engage employees? What needs to happen in order to ‘clean up' American business and get the economy striving again?
Business schools may provide some of the answers. We can certainly hope that academia will seize on the financial crisis as a prime "teachable moment" to educate the leaders who will steer business in the future. "I hope future executives are taught to cope with any eventuality to ensure long-term success rather than to make money with the short-sighted business plans that have led America into a devastating cycle of cataclysmic booms and busts."
|
tweet this!