“I can’t do
anything about that agency,” the government official said. “I don’t have
authority over it.”
The statement
reflects a primitive, fundamentally flawed management philosophy, for a number
of reasons.
For one
thing, it implies that one-way exercise of power is the only way government can
function.
For another,
it denies the speaker’s responsibility for outcomes he/she can’t control.
You can find
the same kind of thinking in nongovernmental organizations.
In the real world, though, it is
delusional for anyone in a position of authority to believe you make things
happen as a continuing practice by ordering them done.
Organizations headed by such people
tend to be circuses of hypocrisy and just-pretend. They become progressively
less functional as they lose good people and gain a culture of fictional
behaviors.
No one has all the answers, and
smart leaders know how to spread authority around in the right places, and how
to empower people to use it with pride to multiply quality results.
Conversely, people willing to be
treated as lackeys pretend respect and compliance while they play hidden games
that hollow out the operation.
You don’t dare question a
dictatorial boss, but you don’t waste time and energy actually trying to carry
out all of his/her stupid directives, either. Such bosses often see what they
want to see, while they punish and humiliate those who don’t stay in line.
Bad bosses have bad bosses. When a
power-obsessed incompetent is allowed to continue in place, it’s because
someone agrees with the behavior, isn’t paying attention or is practicing
avoidance or denial. The boss’s boss isn’t doing the job.
That is as
true in the private sector as it is in public service. If you are elected or
appointed to a position of power, it is because you are expected to get certain
things done. That’s the responsibility part.
If you take
your responsibility seriously, you equip yourself with the skills and practices
you need to get the desired results or as close to those results as possible.
So you build relationships, and you learn and respond to the motivations of
other people in the environment.
You respect and understand how
others see their authority and responsibility. You work creatively and
persistently in the realm of the possible. You negotiate, giving and taking in
at atmosphere of mutual dependency and respect.
That sounds a lot like project
management. While “government as business” is in many ways a failed concept,
there is significant value in seeing project management as politics.
The typical
functional manager in business, industry or the nonprofit world generally has
more formal authority than the typical political leader – and far more than the
typical project manager.
What is
common to all management roles, though, is the responsibility to achieve results
through obtaining the constructive involvement and contributions of other
people. What you can’t order into place, you must nurture into being.
Power needs
responsibility.
Responsibility demands
collaboration.
Collaboration must be earned.
Authority is dependent upon
competence.