HANDS-ON MANAGER TO LEADER:
OVERCOMING THE INERTIA
By Helmer N. Ekstrom
One of the more difficult challenges CEOs face is the shifting from hands-on managing to leading an organization. This is usually attributed to founding CEOs who often, almost by definition, start off as hands-on managers. We also see evidence of it in more mature organizations experiencing a smooth and consistently steep growth curve.
Moving from leader to hands-on manager appears to be the easier direction. The crunch of growth sneaks up on you. The next thing you know, everyone is stretched. What needs to be done is obvious. You’re part of the team and you would never ask someone to do what you would not do yourself. So, you pitch in and you are hands-on.
This is a completely appropriate decision for a CEO to make. But it should be temporary; very temporary. The trouble comes if you allow it to become the normal and expected way you do business. It does not take long to build its own inertia. Soon, the demands of each day drive you. You are no longer in position to see around the corner and anticipate what is ahead. There is little or no time and energy dedicated to thinking big-picture thoughts, projecting trends, and envisioning the future. Sound familiar?
A few of the forces comprising this inertia:
• Task work gives you feedback right away.
• You think you know more than anyone else about most things.
• You don’t think you have time to teach the staff.
• The board won’t spend the money.
• The status quo feels warm and comfortable when compared to the prospect of changing me.
• Denial: This, too, will pass.
• You are a control freak.
The bottom line is that your and your staff’s entire attention is devoted to responding to the immediate demands created by the growth and the failure to anticipate and account for it. Tolerating these conditions is a dead end. You fear that confronting this matter, in effect, is an admission that you failed to anticipate it. So what. Acknowledge it and deal with it. If it helps, think of yourself as victim of your own success.
Getting to the core problem and its causes is the essential first step in fixing the situation. It is the surest way to a good solution. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you proceed.
Don’ts
• Don’t wait until something snaps (and surprises the board).
• Don’t include yourself in the available ‘doer’ capacity calculation when figuring out how much more capacity you’ll need.
• Don’t assume you can just pile on more people to carry out the same old methods and approaches you used before.
• Don’t tolerate any “sacred cows.”
• Don’t fall for answering the question, “How do you want me to do this?”
Dos
• Think beyond the horizon to what will be needed and plan according to that.
• Clarify your vision for the organization.
• Shape the necessary objectives and desired outcomes.
• Seek counsel from your advisors and don’t forget to engage the board, at least the chair.
• Find yourself a number two—one person or small team—you can lean on and who will shoulder all the doing.
Finally, with solution implemented, don’t rest on your laurels quite yet. Step back and think hard about how you got yourself into this situation in the first place. Then commit to taking corrective action. Consider trying MBWA (the practice of Management By Walking Around). That way you’ll always keep the big picture in focus and learn a lot in the process. Just make sure you use your eyes and ears, not your hands.
One of the more difficult challenges CEOs face is the shifting from hands-on managing to leading an organization. This is usually attributed to founding CEOs who often, almost by definition, start off as hands-on managers. We also see evidence of it in more mature organizations experiencing a smooth and consistently steep growth curve.
Moving from leader to hands-on manager appears to be the easier direction. The crunch of growth sneaks up on you. The next thing you know, everyone is stretched. What needs to be done is obvious. You’re part of the team and you would never ask someone to do what you would not do yourself. So, you pitch in and you are hands-on.
This is a completely appropriate decision for a CEO to make. But it should be temporary; very temporary. The trouble comes if you allow it to become the normal and expected way you do business. It does not take long to build its own inertia. Soon, the demands of each day drive you. You are no longer in position to see around the corner and anticipate what is ahead. There is little or no time and energy dedicated to thinking big-picture thoughts, projecting trends, and envisioning the future. Sound familiar?
A few of the forces comprising this inertia:
• Task work gives you feedback right away.
• You think you know more than anyone else about most things.
• You don’t think you have time to teach the staff.
• The board won’t spend the money.
• The status quo feels warm and comfortable when compared to the prospect of changing me.
• Denial: This, too, will pass.
• You are a control freak.
The bottom line is that your and your staff’s entire attention is devoted to responding to the immediate demands created by the growth and the failure to anticipate and account for it. Tolerating these conditions is a dead end. You fear that confronting this matter, in effect, is an admission that you failed to anticipate it. So what. Acknowledge it and deal with it. If it helps, think of yourself as victim of your own success.
Getting to the core problem and its causes is the essential first step in fixing the situation. It is the surest way to a good solution. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you proceed.
Don’ts
• Don’t wait until something snaps (and surprises the board).
• Don’t include yourself in the available ‘doer’ capacity calculation when figuring out how much more capacity you’ll need.
• Don’t assume you can just pile on more people to carry out the same old methods and approaches you used before.
• Don’t tolerate any “sacred cows.”
• Don’t fall for answering the question, “How do you want me to do this?”
Dos
• Think beyond the horizon to what will be needed and plan according to that.
• Clarify your vision for the organization.
• Shape the necessary objectives and desired outcomes.
• Seek counsel from your advisors and don’t forget to engage the board, at least the chair.
• Find yourself a number two—one person or small team—you can lean on and who will shoulder all the doing.
Finally, with solution implemented, don’t rest on your laurels quite yet. Step back and think hard about how you got yourself into this situation in the first place. Then commit to taking corrective action. Consider trying MBWA (the practice of Management By Walking Around). That way you’ll always keep the big picture in focus and learn a lot in the process. Just make sure you use your eyes and ears, not your hands.