When Jim goes on vacation the company hardly realizes he is gone. When or if a question arises, his peers and his boss, as well as others in the company, have no problem checking with the person Jim left in charge.

Bob is an ineffective manager. His team often seems like an albatross around his neck.  The job always gets done, but not without a series of potential disasters that would have been catastrophic if Bob had not “saved the day.”  Bob does not like to have his people in attendance at important meetings, and if they must, he still does all the talking.  In addition, he has the habit of interrupting and adding his own “wisdom” even when members of his team are asked direct questions.  Often at these sessions it is obvious that his team members are not capable of understanding some of the more complex issues for which Bob is responsible.

After the meeting is over the executives agree that without Bob running that group they would be in bad shape, that it’s good to have someone of his capabilities around when the going gets tough.  

When Bob goes on vacation all Hell breaks loose.  Nobody can answer the more complex questions that come up…which means that the boss is often forced to call Bob and get the answers directly.  There have even been times when Bob was asked to come back from vacation early

After Bob and Jim had been on the job for about a year, a position opened that would be a promotion to either of them.  The position opened because a senior manager had reached his level of incompetence and the job just wasn’t getting done.  The group was perceived as being very weak, unmotivated, with very low morale.

Who should be promoted to “whip them back into shape?” From the perspective of senior management,  Jim has not had experience dealing with complex issues, or people who need to be tightly controlled if the job is going to get done.  While Bob on the other hand has had lots of experience dealing with this kind of a situation.  There is no doubt in the executives minds that Jim would be “eaten alive” by this group of malcontents, while Bob would show them very quickly, “who was the boss.”  From the executives perspective there is really no choice – Bob is the man for the job.

This is how ineffective managers get promoted until they reach their level of incompetence, while effective leaders get left in jobs well below their ultimate capabilities, destined to less financial and career success. This is the hallmark of the unenlightened organization.

Consequences of Incompetence

 Even worse can happen. A good friend of mine, I'll call him Tom, was working for an effective leader, having the best time of his life and accomplishing 

more than he had ever accomplished. The company, a major Silicon Valley high tech company, had just announced their first ever lay-off, but assured the stockholders and employees that they would only be cleaning house. "Nobody valuable to our future success will be leaving."

Tom's boss was laid off.  Tom was then assigned to the most ineffective manager he had ever worked for.  He was so disillusioned that he almost quit. The company nearly lost one of their best engineers because they weren't able to recognize effective leadership within their organization.

After the meeting is over the executives agree that Jim is lucky to have such a talented group of people to manage and the decision is made to move some of the more talented ones to areas of greater complexity where the issues are more critical.

The Pros Know Who the Best Are

In the reading workshop example above, the other workshop attendee wasn't able to recognize that it was my skill that made the reading appear to be so easy. But, the leader had recognized this and had been quick to compliment me. In the same way, a symphony conductor can easily tell the difference in skill between the violinist sitting in the first chair and the one sitting in the fifth chair. Likewise, a professional coach knows immediately who the best players are. In most professions, the pros know who the best are, who are the most capable of getting the job done.

It continues to amaze me that so many senior managers are not able to recognize the real pros, the effective leaders, that they have working for them.

Unenlightened Companies Are Doomed

While unenlightened companies have not been able to accomplish all that they could have because of this inability to recognize effective leaders, they have been able to maintain a significant number of effective leaders at the lower management levels. In those capacities, effective leaders have accomplished the real work of the organization and have trained the companies future managers.

As organizations discover that in order to succeed in this age of rapid, unpredictable change, they must learn to recognize and promote those leaders who get things done effectively. It is such effective leaders who exercise effective leadership who motivate and enthuse their teams, who create environments where people can excel and become more than they ever believed possible.

As the value of Effective Leadership becomes more recognized, effective leaders will be drawn to these organizations that reflect that value. Unenlightened companies will be stuck with ineffective management at all levels. These companies are doomed.

Enlightened Companies and Effective Leadership will be an unbeatable combination as we move into the 21st Century.

Unenlightened companies and ineffective management will no longer be able to compete at the same level that they have in the past. There is no doubt who the winners will be.

Copyright 2000, Brad Fregger. All rights reserved.