Dan Pink, leadership analyst and former speech writer for Al Gore, claims that there is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. He says that intrinsic motivators such as autonomy, mastery, and purpose are the right incentives for non-mundane tasks in the twenty-first century. In a time of economic recovery, he argues that too many organizations are gauging their talent based on assumptions that are outdated, unexamined, and rooted more in folklore than in science (Pink, 2009).
Being a next generation leader in an Aerospace and Defense company, this message resonates with me. Our company is now feeling the impact of baby boomer retirement and struggling to retain talent. For example, 50% of our 20,000 workers have been with the company for three years or less. In spite of these statistics, I often battle against leadership styles that are focused on managing the parking lot, rather than the results that can be achieved with the proper work life balance.
In my opinion extrinsic motivators such as carrots and sticks or pay for performance exhibited in traditional command and control leaders simply do not work anymore. The consequence of not recognizing this is smothered creativity, stifled innovation, weak productivity, crappy customer and client service, and a host of other problems such as high turnover, poor morale and excessive absenteeism (jlctaggart, 2010).
A shining example of the new leadership approach is the Results-Only Workplace Environment (ROWE) which was created by former Best Buy HR managers Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson. ROWE is a management strategy in which employees are evaluated on performance, not presence (Mulholland, 2010). According to Pink (2009), it has been proven to increase worker productivity, engagement, and satisfaction while also lowering turnover. However, according to Blakely (2008), it requires mature, goal-oriented management to really be successful. For example, they must trust workers to deliver results and empower workers to manage their own time.
Although a Results-Only Work Environment is not right for every organization, it clearly demonstrates a new style of leadership, and those that have implemented it believe that they have gained a competitive advantage (Conlin, 2009). Whether ROWE gains mainstream adoption or not, I believe that leaders can learn from the ethical leadership practices it requires.
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