Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Don Blohowiak asks the question over at bnet “If you were ordered to offer evidence that you have created a learning organization, what would you submit into evidence?” 

a

He is contrasting the difference between the command and control method vs. the coaching and mentoring outlook on leadership.

a

The writer of The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge is mentioned when Blohowiak reminds of his manifesto 15 years ago encouraging managers to become much more effective by employing systems thinking - and creating a “learning organization” where they are managing.

a

He points out how the military is transforming from a command and control culture to a command and ‘coach’ culture. 

a

The example is shown how the drill sergeants of the old days were taught the method was to do anything they could to weed out the weak and turn the softies into hardened soldiers.

It used to be that they would meet the standards set before them or else. Now the attitude is more that they will do anything they can to coach the recruits to meet the standards set before them.  

“The idea,” says Col. Edward Daly, whose basic-training brigade graduates about 11,000 soldiers a year, “is to get rid of the anxiety and worry.”  

Don asks this question as a result of these observations:  

“So why would the military — the very paragon of command and control — now lead the way with a more cooperative and collaborative management style?”  

“The answer is simple, really. Unlike their counterparts in the private sector, military leaders don’t wield their power for personal gain or aggrandizement. Military commanders use their institutional power over subordinates for one reason only: To accomplish the mission.”  

I have found what is said here to be completely true in my own managing experience. Not only does it create a less stressful environment, but the standards are actually raised, rather than lowered, as some who resist empowerment and coaching think will happen if they relinquish what they perceive as control.