What is effective leadership, and what effective leadership skills will truly benefit your role? An old boss of mine walked the halls twice each day to see who was working. If you weren’t there when he arrived in the morning, you “lacked dedication.” If you left before he did, you “lacked commitment.” In case you’re wondering, both quotes came from my performance review, and this is not a leadership approach you should be taking.
Effective leadership from different perspectives
In the early years of Microsoft, Bill Gates took a stealthier approach to evaluating employees. Gates, who worked weekends and said he “didn’t really believe in vacations,” memorized every employee’s car.
“I knew everyone’s license plates,” Gates said, “so I could look out in the parking lot and see when people came in and when they were leaving.”
As Gates later realized (but my boss never did), number of hours worked is a terrible proxy for productivity, much less effectiveness.
Over time, Gates realized that managing by results was more important – and a much better use of his time as a leader.
Because results matter. Not hours worked.
Because outcomes matter. Not perceived effort.
Monitoring hours worked also results in a false sense of control. Plenty of people spend long hours at work while accomplishing relatively little. They come in early… but spend that time easing into their workday. They stay late… but use that time to piddle and surf and schmooze, and then complain about all the hours they put in.
So, what is effective leadership? Well, employees at work – whether physically or logged into a Slack channel — aren’t necessarily working. At least not on the things that make the most difference to your business.
Employees at work – whether physically or logged into a Slack channel — aren’t necessarily working.
