How To Have Employees Experience their Manager As A Leader – A Design and Screening Solution

By Michelle Malay Carter on June 10, 2009 

Designing to Make Managers LeadersMy last post?had the word impotent in it twice, so those who read my posts via email may have had the post hijacked by a spam filter.?

Additionally, because my last post was so long, I am?repeating the end of my last post under a new title with one new context setting introductory paragraph.

Managers are managers by virtue of their position.? Employees will experience their managers as leaders when two criteria are met:

  1. When the manager’s role is located in the next higher work level than the employee.
  2. When the manager’s cognitive capability falls into the next higher level.

Organizations that understand this can design for leadership and screen for “leadership capability” which is relative to whom is being led.

What Do Employees Want in a Manager?
Paraphrased from Ralph Rowbottom and Davis Billis’, Organisation Design, A Work Levels Approach, when employees encounter knotty problems, employees want a manager who, by virtue of his/her position, has the authority to (this is the requisite organization design part – one role at each work level):

And (here is the individual part which can be screened for), is personally cognitively capable to:

Satisfying Leaders have A Higher Level Role and Matching Cognitive Capability – It’s All Relative to Me
In summary, employees will experience their manager as a leader when both the manager’s role and the manager’s cognitive capability fall into the next level higher than the employee. Organization’s can design and screen for this.

I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.

Is your manager your leader?

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels

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