Moving from a Chiefs and Indians Management Style
Moving from a Chiefs and Indians Management Style
In many, if not most, business cultures, we still have pretty much vertical structures of hierarchy. You start at the top with the best paid and end up with the humble worker at the bottom end. In larger organisations this can be eight, ten or more deep!
At the bottom you feel 'done to' at the top, you feel the 'doer' - a much more comfortable spot to be. Guess why!
Yet it need not be this way. Of course there are always going to levels of authority, but wise organisations can soften this with a level of democracy which enables even those at the very bottom of the chain, the 'indians' in the metaphor, to feel like 'chiefs', in how they input into the organisation.
You see, the distinction is almost all emotional. It's about control of your own circumstances - and those circumstances are controlled, not surprisingly, by the chiefs, especially in unenlightened organisations.
And control is such an emotive place to be and so uncomfortable if you have little or none and are almost totally 'done to'.
But what if an enlightened boss gave up some of the control, maybe even most of it, to those workers beneath. In fact by giving up much control, maybe they realise that control and input from the 'many' was better for all and would be a respected and valued (and valuable) place to go.
Bosses would become freer from day to day decisions, and their now co-workers, rather than 'slaves' would be more involved, more able to contribute with the richness of their own ideas and implementation skills. It would be radical, yet how valuable it would be, all round.
It doesn't take much on the micro-organisational level. In fact it takes but one step.
Ask your people what 'they think would work'. Get used to involving them in discussions and letting them have a free rein on the ideas and delivery, as long as the result is at least the one you need.
You might be surprised at how quickly they get the hang of it. In fact, you might be surprised at the results to your business, to your people and, not least, to you.
Moving from a Chiefs and Indians Management Style - To learn more about this author, visit Martin Haworth's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
I've ummed and ahhed about the title for this topic, not wanting to cause offence. So if I do, I don't mean to - the term "Chiefs and Indians" is a metaphor, not a culture statement, so bear with me, it will become clear.
In many, if not most, business cultures, we still have pretty much vertical structures of hierarchy. You start at the top with the best paid and end up with the humble worker at the bottom end. In larger organisations this can be eight, ten or more deep!
At the bottom you feel 'done to' at the top, you feel the 'doer' - a much more comfortable spot to be. Guess why!
Yet it need not be this way. Of course there are always going to levels of authority, but wise organisations can soften this with a level of democracy which enables even those at the very bottom of the chain, the 'indians' in the metaphor, to feel like 'chiefs', in how they input into the organisation.
You see, the distinction is almost all emotional. It's about control of your own circumstances - and those circumstances are controlled, not surprisingly, by the chiefs, especially in unenlightened organisations.
And control is such an emotive place to be and so uncomfortable if you have little or none and are almost totally 'done to'.
But what if an enlightened boss gave up some of the control, maybe even most of it, to those workers beneath. In fact by giving up much control, maybe they realise that control and input from the 'many' was better for all and would be a respected and valued (and valuable) place to go.
Bosses would become freer from day to day decisions, and their now co-workers, rather than 'slaves' would be more involved, more able to contribute with the richness of their own ideas and implementation skills. It would be radical, yet how valuable it would be, all round.
It doesn't take much on the micro-organisational level. In fact it takes but one step.
Ask your people what 'they think would work'. Get used to involving them in discussions and letting them have a free rein on the ideas and delivery, as long as the result is at least the one you need.
You might be surprised at how quickly they get the hang of it. In fact, you might be surprised at the results to your business, to your people and, not least, to you.
Moving from a Chiefs and Indians Management Style - To learn more about this author, visit Martin Haworth's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Martin's articles
 |
|
Coaching Businesses to Success - Coaching Businesses to Success News Updates
|
|
 |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Solving Problems Professional Networking Manners, Positivity, Heroics Joint Ventures ebook Maximize Trade Shows |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2009 | |
 |
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts
Best Posts for Productivity | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
