Freedom 2

So what does freedom have to with leadership? In this context, freedom is experienced by two parties: those who lead, and those who follow. We'll talk about the latter first.

In any organization, everyone -– leaders and followers alike– - are working towards a goal or purpose. The leader typically works in light of the big picture, and the follower usually works on a piece of that big picture. Together, the followers execute the work required to put together the big picture which at first exists only in the mind'’s eye of the leader.

Now, that arrangement can take on many forms, and everyone has heard (or experienced) war stories of what lawyers currently like to refer to as "“oppressive work environments." We also dream about, and occasionally hear about, work environments where people are given the latitude to be themselves, pursue their ideas and grow as individuals. But those work organizations seem rare, and openings in them even more so. Once inside, who would ever want to leave, considering the alternative.

But why the disparity? Why aren'’t more leaders open to giving their followers the latitude they desire while they go about their work? Why is Office Space the cliche that so many of us can identify with?

Well, there are a lot of reasons, some of which are popping into your head as you read this. We'’ll try to address as many as we can in coming weeks. But here'’s a big one: leaders too often confuse structure with control, substituting one for the other.

What? OK, let me give you an illustration from my own life.

Meet Clay. Clay was my boss ten years ago. When I went to work for him, he gave me a Day Runner, explained the office approval and filing procedures, and gave me a project, adding "“if you have any questions, my office is right there, and the door'’s always open."” I was then thrown into the deep end of project management.

Clay had laid down a rudimentary structure and communicated basic expectations about my position in general and about the project in particular. He then turned me loose -– absolute freedom within the confines of the structure he had established. It wasn'’t until I wandered outside this established structure and got into trouble that control had to be implemented.

Leaders confuse control with structure when they inadequately communicate a) the elements of structure and b) expectations, general or specific, to the follower, either initially or as the relationship develops. The follower, then, is unclear as to the boundaries within which to operate. At some point, he unwittingly wanders outside of the structure that only clearly exists within the leader'’s mind. The leader then reacts by communicating what he thinks is structure to the follower.

More than likely, the follower receives this communication as a reprimand -– a form of discipline. The follower feels threatened, confused. Self esteem drops, and the follower'’s confidence pertaining to his position is threatened. "“Am I doing OK? Am I meeting expectations? Am I getting written up? Will I be fired?"”

Leaders, when structure is unclear and followers are under the impression that they might be written up for violations they have no way of avoiding, productivity plummets and the resumes come out. And yet leaders wonder why productivity is so low and attrition so high.

So why don'’t leaders change their tactics? Simply put, it takes a lot of very deliberate work, and often requires a paradigm shift on the leader'’s part, as he adopts a pro-active posture with his followers, as opposed to a reactive one. It also has no direct connection with what he thinks is the big picture he started with when he began his endeavor. I mean, who wants to spend all that time putting together a policy manual? "“Why can'’t my people just get it? It'’s not rocket science! Isn'’t it obvious what we'’re trying to accomplish here?"” If you actually started infiltrating the water cooler crowd and asking those questions for real, you may be astounded by the answers you get.

So, how are you communicating? Have you taken the time to establish a working structure? Do you wait until rules are broken to communicate them? Are you approachable? Really? Do your people know what you'’re about? As a person? As an organization? Do they know exactly what is expected of them as individuals? As professionals (or volunteers)? Do they know why they'’re doing what they'’re doing?

Give it some thought. You may think you know the answers to some of these questions, but you might be surprised.