Evolution of Leadership
When I think about the evolution of leadership style and strategies for success, my mind goes back to my first supervisory position and the manager I worked for then. I worked for a large accounting group within a multi-national, manufacturing company. This was in the headquarters and therefore served as a training ground for future up-starts (like me) to learn the business from the top down as well as by observing the behaviors of its highest level managers.
Needless to say, there is a lesson here that includes a shoe dropping (or a rim shot for you musicians). This fellow had a technique to create productivity that went like this: Sit at his desk facing the staff so everyone could see him through the glass wall of his office and maintain a scowl for the entire day. Apparently, he felt that if he always appeared mildly unhappy, not really expressing angry but not too happy either, everyone worked harder. Also, he felt this made it much more of a reward to his team when they occasionally saw him smile.
What scenes like these do you have in your career history?
How does this contrast or embody any of the thoughts of Drucker or Collins or Goldblatt? How has it evolved?
STRATALYNE 