Want to lead better? Don’t be an apologist for bad management and bureaucracy. These problems are inherent to big corporate structures. And, the more you deny them, the worse things get.

Trickle down

The large size of big-corporates inevitably produces clumsy bureaucratic rules that make life painful. Often, this is not your doing. It is just trickle down from the top. Sometimes the trickle is particularly bad and you can feel caught in the middle.

But, if you know this and your team know it, why pretend otherwise? Why not acknowledge the truth? Why not discuss it openly?

CYA ain’t leadership

Perhaps you’ve received “talking points” from above to cover things up. Or, perhaps you don’t want to be seen to be challenging your bosses. Fair enough if you want to take the CYA (cover-your-ass) path of mediocre management. You will only be joining the herd by doing so, so who can blame you? But, that ain’t leadership. Don’t kid yourself about that.

Really leading would be talking truth to power, even at the risk of going into disfavour with those above. And, if you feel unable to do so because you just can’t afford to risk losing your job, at least don’t be an apologist for bad management.

Don’t be an apologist for bad management

Do your team the small justice of acknowledging the reality of the situation. They will appreciate your honesty and may even try harder to work around the problem. They will also respect you more for it. Most importantly, they will learn that honesty is the first step to making things better.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

life coaching londonHarsha is a 1:1 coach and independent thinker based in London. He empowers people to find more clarity, confidence and focus in their lives — to cut through the noise, in a world so full of it. Harsha’s new book, Machine Ego: Tragedy of the Modern Mind, is now available in paperback and Kindle through Amazon.