“Lead with Context not Control” I came across this leadership principle in one of my favourite books “No Rules Rules” by Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer, the author of The Culture Map. It has had a profound impact on me since I read it. The more I think about it, the more clarity I have on what Reed and Erin meant to say.
In any industry we see a large number of leaders believe in keeping the control to themselves. They believe that the only way to manage or even achieve the company goals is by controlling every aspect of what their employees do. Probably, this would have become the norm from 1920’s till early 1990’s. However, the times have changed. With the invention of Internet, the way we work has changed dramatically, the way we seek information has changed, the way we know about a lot of things has changed.
In digital age, people would not only need good income, they not only need a decent lifestyle but they also need a higher purpose. The purpose which allows them to do what they do, the purpose which makes them go to work every single day with a smile on their face and this is where the context comes into picture. For a team member to feel that they belong, to feel that they matter, to feel that they are heard and to feel what they do for a living has a higher purpose, they need the context. The context of what the organisation is trying to achieve in short and long term, and they need to know what is expected out of them with least control. They need the freedom to be able to try out things their way, they need the freedom to think differently.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you give the context to your team member you are letting them decide what’s best for the company and the customers, you are believing in them and treating them like adults. You are trusting them to understand what is required of them. If you try to control them, you are doing exactly the opposite of what any employee would want. If you try to control them by talking about rules or policies or even just to prove that you are his/her manager, you are doubting their abilities and you are limiting their creativity.
I understand this is not easy, specially in an organisation which has been around for years and which has many employees to take care of and it is definitely not easy if you have hundreds of customers, let alone thousands or millions. You have your HR departments, you have your policies and processes. However, what if as a leader, a manager, you revisit all the rules and policies and give context to your team members on why we have those rules? What if you could think again on some of the policies you have in the organisation? What if you have seventy five policies and you try to see how many of them are pretty much the same and what if you could remove the ones which questions your team members trust worthiness?
“None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith. Paulo Coelho, Brida
Leaders, should and must understand that if there is a situation where you are having to doubt an employees trust worthiness and having to refer to a policy to take a necessary action, that employee is not worth staying. But at the same time, if you are limiting your team member’s ability to bring his “A” game to work every single day just because of a policy, that employee deserves a better manager or a leader or even a better organisation. Because at work, TRUST is a deal where you get what you give.
For example, you have a blanket policy of not allowing any travel expenses above $1000/month. However, you have an employee who must and should travel to another city every month to meet the clients from whom you are obviously getting a lot of business. Now, just because of the policy you have, you are not letting him achieve his true potential, you are telling him indirectly that you don’t trust him with anything above $1000 for travel expenses and more importantly you are telling your customers that you don’t trust your employees with anything above $1000.
At this moment the obvious thought of any customer would be, if you don’t trust your employees why should they? An ideal way to deal with something like this would be to let your team know, on an average X team members have to travel each month, and the cost for each of their travel is Y and we as an organisation to be profitable and make sense of the travel expense can only afford the total sum of Z. By giving them the context, you are treating them as adults and trusting them to take the right decision. You are not limiting them from using the company funds but also, you are putting them on the driving seat of using the funds effectively. The individuals in the team who break this trust of yours and misuse the funds or use it carelessly all the time, don’t have to be in your team, your group or your organisation, they don’t deserve to.
“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
It is easy to lead with control but it is important to lead with context. You can control what every team member or the employee does or does not do, but if you give them the context, let each of them know what their individual responsibilities are, and let them control whatever they are supposed to do, leads to trust which then leads to a positive impact on the value they provide to your customers and this leads to, an amazing culture and an amazing organisation to work with and work for.
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