Leaders naturally bear responsibility for KPIs, budgets, compliance with rules and regulations, as well as the health and safety of their employees. Therefore, it’s essential for leaders to communicate expectations clearly and stay actively involved in operations. However, resorting to controlling and micromanaging is a fundamentally different approach. It’s a lazy and incompetent way to avoid the work needed to build a clear, well-functioning structure and a strong, engaging culture. At best, this controlling approach creates docile cattle or obedient drones, who mindlessly execute orders.
Consider a scenario in an industrial plant with a heavy focus on rules and policies without explaining the “why” behind them or involving teams in their implementation. A controlling manager might implement detailed safety protocols authoritatively and enforce these through meticulous surveillance and rigid compliance checks. Such a strategy is likely to result in a disengaged workforce. Employees may follow safety procedures only when supervised, without truly owning their behavior. Moreover, under constant oversight, this kind of control is only effective as long as operations proceed routinely, and employees remain content being mere drones.
In contrast, a responsible leader fosters a culture of learning, ownership, and safety. They involve the team in safety planning and encourage questions and discussions about safety behavior and protocols. In this environment, employees are more than rule followers; they are active participants in developing a safe workplace. They’re empowered to own their behavior, to identify potential hazards, suggest improvements, and take proactive steps to ensure not just their own safety but also that of their colleagues.
Leaders who take responsibility not only for results but also for the genuine health, safety, and wellbeing of their employees are more likely to build not just a safer organization, but a more engaged and high-performing one. But this of course entails acquiring and maintaining a good knowledge and understanding of human behavior and team development skills, which can be daunting for some.
However, reliance solely on control and compliance, without fostering ownership and true engagement, can lead to inefficacy, compromised safety, high turnover, and increased absenteeism, as supported by Gallup studies.
In the book “Extreme Ownership,” Jocko Willink and Leif Babin write about how the Navy SEALs train their soldiers. Contrary to the Hollywood stereotype, they don’t train them to be blind followers. In high-stakes missions, where not just the operation’s success but every soldier’s life is at risk, thoughtless drones are not desirable. What is needed are competent, well-functioning, high-performing teams that take full responsibility. It’s crucial for each member to question things that seem off, adapt plans based on new information and perspectives, then act unitedly and decisively.
Historically, industries have operated under the principles of scientific management, focusing on performance and process optimization. This involved controlling and evaluating both human behavior and machine processes against fixed ideals and models. The primary goals were efficiency, eliminating defects, minimizing waste, and maximizing profitability.
If the organization were merely a machine, this approach might suffice, but it’s not – it consists of people. Therefore, we cannot settle for mere compliance and control, nor can we monitor and optimize our way forward. Instead, we need to own our behavior and actively learn and develop our way forward towards our goals and visions.
Simply put, we shouldn’t be controlling, we should be responsible.
How do you approach leadership in your organization?
Are you fostering a culture of control, creating drones marching under the profitability flag, or are you developing a responsible culture of ownership, empowering your employees to grow with a focus on the mission?
JL Wallenberg
jlwallenberg.com 