Why Command and Control Management Is killing Business

I know maybe this metaphor is not the best we can use as the current tragic situation we have in Ukraine. But let’s read it until the end, hope you can enjoy and take some inspiration from this article. Command and control may have worked in the past (probably during the first Industrial revolution and in Army), but it's on its way out and companies that don't adjust quickly may find it very hard to recruit and retain talent. Not only does it damage employee morale, it also leads to lower results, performance and people engagement. You can have a look at Gallup reports for data.

Let’s try to figure out why this ‘model’ is not working anymore:  this structure has its roots in the military and is still a dominant force. It is one where the senior manager is in command and therefore controlling employees.

But the problem with command and control is this: it does not guarantee people will do what you ask. No surprise in that. Furthermore: dissatisfaction is a common reason people choose to leave employment. Are you familiar with that? Are you asking during exit interviews? Mmmm….

Let’s take a look at some of the top reasons people leave their jobs:

·       Not being treated with respect or dignity.

·       Being prevented from making an impact on the organization.

·       Lack of psychological security

·       Not being rewarded with more responsibility.

·       Not being involved in any mentoring or coaching activities

Command and control model is against creativity and decision-making because corporate culture dictates the relationship between employee and organization. Almost everything goes through the chain of command. There is no collective intelligence, working on cross-functional team, in few words there is no the internal eco-system that inspire People to be engaged, to commit toward something big that their on single contribution.

So, why type X companies (centralized, rigid, detailed) are performance is nowadays very poor?

1)    Command and control leadership was often used extensively in companies where employees expected to spend their entire careers and be rewarded with a pension. This means employees in general were/are keen to accepted from manager requests that are – in many cases- “fulsome”. Today's employees don't need to tolerate command and control leadership, this is particularly true with young generation (are you familiar with great resignation?). Employees who feel micromanaged or strictly scrutinized by their managers feel comfortable jumping ship and finding a new job where they have more autonomy, respect, and a sense of purpose and ownership. Not surprised that lot of young people decided to create own business…

2)    VUCA World is real and is happening now!!! it's very hard to maintain a competitive advantage without being able to constantly adapt. Command and control don’t just make employees unhappy--it also can hurt your team's decision making. The best leaders solicit multiple perspectives and know that differing opinions can improve a team's ideas over time. Leaders who insist their teams follow their decisions without question are shutting off constructive feedback that could reshape an idea, pre-empt a poor decision, or even change an entire company for the better.

3)    Rigidity!!! Command and control leadership is by design inflexible. While that ensures all members of a team are dedicated to the same goal, it also limits employee autonomy. The fast pace of the modern business world requires employees to adjust course constantly to meet changing demands. The best businesses empower their employees to trust their own judgment, guided by their core values to make decisions independently based on the best information they have at the time.

So now you may have a different perspective, but let’ allow me to share a positive message (we need anything positive in such difficult, sad and terrible time of war and pandemic era)

The Collaborative Leadership is what is needed! I listened lot of stories during our interviews with candidates: many people really want to contribute, but are constrained by the limits of command and control: the bigger obstacle they are facing is related with lack of psychological safety, access to information, rigid rules and hierarchy that is all against innovation & collaboration.

So, what should we do?

First of all, we should consider that:

-       Each company, organization is made by People

-       Each customer is made by People

-       Each investor is made by People

….so if People are everywhere in-out our business environment, why we are not able to consider them the center of our interest and build a collaborative approach that create value for everybody?

If you create value between a company and a customer, you are creating value for the shareholders. Does it clear? So, the better alternative is a collaborative approach to leadership. One where we invest in relationships and focus on motivation, support, and coaching.

Please do not understand me wrong. I am not expecting that all organization will transform immediately in learning organization, that will adopt an Agile People mindset, but for sure they have to start asking themselves more questions, investigate deeper in their values, management and leadership style to assess if those approach are really (yet) aligned with the requirement of complex, interconnected World and the People living in that World.