“They aren’t stepping up.  It’s like we’re having the same conversations over and over again.  The same problems show up over and over.  There’s no sense of accountability or ownership.  I swear, some days it feels like I’m herding cats!”

This has been the refrain of many CEO’s and business owners I’ve worked with over the years in regards to their teams.  Many times, I have been brought in under the guise of team alignment, building, or development but if we’re being honest, most of the time, I am told the problem is the team and we need to “fix” them.

So it’s not too surprising that at the beginning of the engagement when I meet with the team members I hear, regarding the CEO or owner

• He says he’s open to our opinions but then he shoots them down without even considering them
• She is quick to dismiss our ideas and input because she thinks she is always right
• He acts defensive any time he is challenged
• Forget about giving constructive criticism – she can’t handle it

From the leader’s perspective, people aren’t showing up.  From the team’s perspective, they can’t show up because the leader doesn’t allow it.

So, who’s right?

What the comments from the team members are reflecting is the most common leadership style of Command and Control.

“A command and control approach to leadership is authoritative in nature and uses a top-down approach, which fits well in bureaucratic organizations in which position and power are vested in senior management.”

Most of today’s leaders developed their careers under the influence of command and control managers, and the culture of most organizations is still based on command and control behaviors.

Beyond that, many CEO’s and Owners were raised in very traditional cultures with a mother or father who used command and control as their parenting style.  Dad barked the orders and the kids complied.

Add school, religion, military and any other traditional, hierarchical culture on top of that and you’ve got leaders who never saw any other way to lead.

“As a commanding officer, when you say something, that’s the truth.  No one disputes it.  When I began working in the private sector, I expected the same.  But when I would say to my team, ‘Please do this or that,’ they would look at me and say, ‘Why?’  I realized I needed to provide a rationale. In my old world, I was the rationale.”
~ Former Danish Navy Seal

COMMAND CONTROL LEADERSHIP – WHEN IT WORKS
We can’t deny the fact that there are times when this leadership style is still appropriate.  Examples include:

• In the first two stages of growth of a company when there aren’t many levels of leadership and people mostly report to the CEO.
• For initiatives that do not require people to change beyond learning new technical or operational skills.
• In times of crisis when there is no time to use the skills of consensus building, collaboration, etc.

However, in the day-to-day operating of a growing business not only is it not the most effective leadership style, it’s also not what most leaders say they want.

From experiencing discouragement to outright burnout, these leaders call me not because they want to engage in some warm and fuzzy “trust falls” with their team but because they are finally feeling the effects of the command and control style personally.

If this is the case, why do so many leaders continue to default to a style that is no longer working for them?

WHAT GOT YOU HERE…

When you examine these business owners and leaders, most of them got where they are by being driven, autocratic, obsessed with results, no-nonsense, challenging everything and relying on their own knowledge and intuition to make difficult decisions.

And to a great extent, it worked!  The problem is there comes a time when it stops working.  We’ve all heard the adage, “what got you here… won’t get you there.”  

This is true in all areas of life (just think of any area and think about if what you did 10 years ago still works) but in particular the dynamic world of business.

And perhaps a little less known adage is a business cannot grow beyond the level the leader of it has grown.   

Maybe this is why Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “The speed of the leader determines the pace of the pack.”

Unless the leader finds a new way to lead, they will default to the command and control leadership style which limits the commitment and accountability they want from their teams.

This default makes sense when you consider that the command and control style feels easier for the leader.

When I lead executive team building sessions, I often have the team do an exercise where they are given a set of instructions to follow by their CEO.

The first time they are directed, it is through ONE-WAY communication with just the leader talking.  The second time they are directed, it involves TWO-WAY communication as the team is allowed to ask clarifying questions.

In every single instance, the results the team produces are 100x better in the second round where they were allowed to ask questions of their leader.

And yet, every single time, the leader reports that the first round was more comfortable for them personally.  No interruptions, no feedback, no questions.  “Just do what I say!”

But here’s the thing, while the command and control seem easier and feels more natural to many leaders, the compliance it brings you is temporary.

People comply on the outside (behavior) in the moment but feel resistance inside (attitude) in the long-term.  Just think how it feels when someone tells you what to do.  Most people have a reaction that’s not fit to print!

When a leader has the “fall in line” mentality, he gets compliance – nothing more. When a leader has the “align” mentality, he gets commitment.  Heads nodding vs. hands and hearts collaborating.

Yes, the command and control modality is useful in crisis situations but it is incapable of unlocking the powerful intelligence, loyalty, and commitment that is buried in your workplace.

WHAT WILL GET YOU THERE…

Many leaders, when confronted with the information that their current style is no longer working and may be a large part of their team’s challenges react, well, poorly.

In my work with these command and control leaders, I have been yelled at, stormed out on and had contracts threatened.

It’s not easy to look inside and admit that what you’ve been doing – that has worked for many years and gotten you the success you have – is no longer working.

But I’ve also had leaders completely embrace the message.  One CEO, in particular, I was working with heard the feedback from his team on how difficult his temper was for them to deal with.  After insisting that he wasn’t angry, just passionate, I asked him to truly listen to what they were saying.

“We are afraid to approach you.”  

I conveyed to him…

You can’t expect people to do the best work of their lives under a feeling of trepidation.

When he offered to look into anger management classes, his entire team was blown away by his willingness to take their feedback.

While not every CEO, business owner, or leader needs anger management counseling, we are going to look at some qualities in this, and the next, issue that leaders can develop if they recognize they may tend toward a command and control style of leadership.

CURIOSITY: One thing that is consistent among the Command and Control leaders I have worked with is they are quick to judge the decisions and actions of their people as lazy, ineffective, arrogant, insecure, un-professional, not invested or uncaring.

Yet when I dig into their examples, I can often see another side.  This conversation is a compilation of many similar that I have had over the years.

Nancy: Would you agree that most people come to work and want to do a good job?

CEO: Sure

N: Did you think Tom was a capable, rational and reasonable person when you hired him?

CEO: Yes

N: Then why would a capable, rational and reasonable person who wants to do a good job do what he did?

CEO: I have no idea.

N: Then let’s come up with some possible reasons for his actions.

At this point, together we can usually come up with at least a few possibilities that give Tom the benefit of the doubt.  From here, we can have a conversation with Tom coming from a neutral place of curiosity and elicit his rationale.

I’m not suggesting that every person has a company’s best interests at heart.

Over the years, I’ve heard of and verified blatant sabotage by a few employees.

Yet this is usually a very small minority.  So to assume the worst without doing some digging into the situation is assumptive while the best leaders remain curious.

When in doubt, check it out!