​A note before reading. Shadows can reflect both positive and negative aspects of leadership. Shadows used in this article reflect the darker or negative side found in LeaderManager behaviour.

In the article Workplace Culture I explored how the Shadow in the workplace affects workers and in Wellbeing under Spiritual Discoveries I linked the concept with our inner selves. This article explores the role of the leader or leadership team in removing the shadow.

LeaderManagers need courage to bring the shadow out into the open and give people reason to hope, but that hope needs to become reality for the shadow to be lifted. When LeaderManagers bring the shadow to light they cut through the stereotypes, biases, myths and tensions found within a given community or society. In the process they promote change, and that change often has repercussions.
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From a socio-political perspective we see examples of the difficulty in speaking the ‘truth’ and the upheaval it generates. Take for example, the reactions Martin Luther King experienced in bringing the shadow of racism to the fore, or Mahatma Gandhi in freeing India from British rule, or Nelson Mandela in loosing the chains of apartheid in South Africa, or Agnes Macphail, the first woman elected to the Canadian Parliament, or Rosa Parks, who moved from the back of the bus to the front of the bus, or currently Pope Francis who has embarked on a renewal within the Vatican. Consider also that these men and women of courage achieved or are achieving societal or institutional change through peaceful means. 

However, most LeaderManagers are not societal change agents – they are the necessary force that guide change within the workplace or within local community organizations and institutions.  They too need courage to speak the truth. 

What do these people do to lighten the darkness? 

Champion a new or renewed vision and engage workers and communities in the process. Often workers are kept in the dark as to where the organization is going and are just expected to do and not question. It’s like the manager of one organization I worked for who said, “It is not for us to question why. It’s for us to do and die.” A harsh statement if there ever was one. Needless to say workers in that organization were unhappy, disengaged and looked for a way out of the organization. A clearly stated vision engages workers around a sense of purpose with which they can align their own sense of purpose. When one’s sense of purpose is aligned with the organization, commitment, engagement and loyalty follow.

Redesign structures which encourage collaboration and cooperation. Highly bureaucratic structures reflect stultified silos which are not conducive to people working effectively across boundaries. This came to my attention once again when I heard, “l don’t care what you say, I report to another VP.” Structures that encourage collaboration and cooperation are flat where employees understand their boundaries and where the boundaries don’t bind them in effectively working with others. Employees of flat organizations don’t hide within the silos they know that the vision of the organization can only be achieved by people working together for the benefit of the whole.

Make processes fluid and open. In line with collapsed silos these LeaderManagers work at developing more open and fluid processes. Processes can either cause “red tape,” or encourage “green tape.” Rigid organizations usually have too much “red tape” which inhibit workers from effectively doing their job. “Red tape” occurs when the leadership team reacts to one-off or exceptional situations with new rules and regulations which in effect slows down the whole of the organization. It’s like one grain of sand in the inner workings of a time piece.  The small grain slows the whole mechanism and on occasion even causes it to stop. The time piece works well when nothing gets in the way of the wheels of motion. So too organizations will work well and move forward when their processes are fluid allowing people to get on with their work.

Open doors to a set of positive values. Such values could include compassion, joy and honesty. A compassionate workplace gives new meaning to work; a joyful workplace makes it a fun place to work; and an honest workplace opens the door for greater justice, trust and cooperation. 

Organizations have values whether they are stated or not. People who are sensitive to the vibes of an organization can feel its values. Now add to the mix the behaviour workers exhibit. They will reflect what the organization believes to be of value. The darker shadow always reflects negative values, the light always reflects positive values. Positive values are those that move an organization forward. These are the values that LeaderManagers must champion as they help organizations move out of the shadow.

Find solutions to problems, not bigger problems. Problems always have a cause and an effect. Strong LeaderManagers go to the cause of the problem and find ways to solve it. In the process they don’t create bigger problems than the one they are attempting to solve. A concrete example of this occurred in a correctional centre where a problem occurred on the food serving line. About a month prior to the occurrence a certain food type was served that caused severe diarrhea among the inmates. They were promised that that food type would not be served again by the Director of Custody. Unfortunately he didn’t tell the cooks his promise. You guessed it. A month later the food type was on the menu. The inmates went on a sit-down strike. The custodial staff wanted to go into the cell block with clubs and shields, but the LeaderManager found a peaceful and more lasting solution. He sat down with the leaders of the inmate community and sorted out a solution that included bringing them into the kitchen and showing them what was available. The solution, extra baloney sandwiches. The problem was solved without causing a bigger problem.  LeaderManagers find solutions without creating bigger shadows. 

Thank you for reading,
Richard P. Fontanie

Harvey Schachter summarizes nine common complaints employees have about their leaders, and concludes his article  by referencing research that shows "being ignored by one's boss is more alienating than being treated poorly." Read the whole article here..

Sherry Knight, my friend from Dimension 11 writes some advice for those thinking of moving up and taking a leadership role. She references Saskatchewan but the message may be applied you no matter where you live. 
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There are some things to consider when you are looking for your own future success. One of the most important is to recognize your own strengths and those areas where you want to be better than you already are. Sometimes when things go wrong you need to remind yourself that challenges can be fixed and you can fix the problem if you have the skills or you can find someone who can.

Success is in your hands: 

• Show up to work every day, on time – people who are ill often or take a lot of time off are often viewed as not having the best interests of the organization in mind
•  Listen – it is the most important communications tool you can use – your mother possibly told you, you have 2 ears and 1 mouth – listen twice as much as you speak and then ask relevant questions about what the other person just said
• •Continue your education – take every program made available to you to increase your knowledge and skill – employers want people who are life long learners
• Volunteer for projects – it gets you noticed by your boss and possibly by the leaders of other departments
• Attending meetings – be early, speak up, don’t sit there quietly – be noticed for doing the right thing and letting others know you have valuable ideas
• Be a team player – everyone looks to those individuals who help others to get the job done
• Lead – every time you have the opportunity – organizations are always looking for people who know when to lead, when to step back and when to get out of the way
• Value everyone’s contribution – you may be a higher rank than another in your organization yet it is important to know everyone has a part to play – those who get promoted are often the people who understand and show every person from the janitor to the executives are needed to make the organization whole
• Show respect to everyone – applying for a job? – in many organizations everyone has a say in who gets the job offer.

Over the next 4 years your chances of moving up within an organization or moving to a new one are better than they have been in the past. You are responsible for your growth and your career and your trajectory towards your ultimate goal so plan how you are going to move forward.

Know you can do it, do everything you can to make yourself a valuable part of your organization. Success is in your hands.

From Knight Views. A Dimension 11 Publication. Find it here. Printed with permission.

What about accountability?  

Ultimately the manager/leader remains accountable for the delegated task. Manager/leaders should delegate in such a way that the person feels accountable and behaves like she is accountable. However, as President Harry Truman once said, “The buck stops here,” which means the buck stops with the manager/leader. If the manager/leader wants the delegatee to be fully accountable, then she needs to redesign the job description. When the manager/leader delegates, she needs to define accountability so that there is no doubt where it lies and what it covers. Here’s how: 

• Set guidelines around the task so that the employee is clear about what the task involves. 
• Encourage the employee to ask questions if they are not clear about their authority or accountability. 
• Use “single-point accountability.” This means making sure that the delegatee is accountable for her own specific element of the task, thus avoiding any overlaps with other employees. 
• Share accountability when working with self-management teams or project teams; shared accountability works in groups where decisions are made through collective effort and all team members are jointly accountable for the results. In shared accountability situations the manager/leader should follow the same principles as in single-point accountability – ensure clarity around what is being delegated, a breakdown of the tasks and the allocation of the tasks to individuals. 

If you are reluctant to delegate there are 11 self-evaluation statements that may give you some insight as to why you may be reluctant. Find the statements by clicking on PDF file below. 
 
 Author: Richard P. Fontanie MSW, FCMC

Notes: The terms leader/manager or manager/leader are used interchangeably in these articles. In the normal course of events within an organization people assigned to a management or a leadership role call upon the skills ascribed to both leader and manager. There are times when the person leads, and other times when he manages; and other times when he leads and manages at the same time. When one steps into a management position, management skills are primarily required. When the person moves into a more senior position, leadership skills come more to the fore. The focus of this series is on the “essential” or “foundational” skills required for one moving into a management or leadership role. Hence the term leader/manager or manager/leader is used.

I also try to make my articles gender neutral. However, for clarity sake I use the first-person pronoun but you can apply any gender to the article. ​

An Essential Manager/Leader Skills article. The term leader/manager or manager/leader is used interchangeably. In the normal course of events within an organization people assigned to a management or a leadership role call upon the skills ascribed to both leader and manager. There are times when the person leads, and other times when he manages; and other times when he leads and manages at the same time. When one steps into a management position, management skills are primarily required. When the person moves into a more senior position, leadership skills come more to the fore. The focus of this series is on the “essential” or “foundational” skills required for one moving into a management or leadership role. Hence the term leader/manager or manager/leader is used.  

Delegation is an essential management and leadership skill. In organizational terms it is the transfer of authority and responsibility to another. In its truest form it isn’t about empowering others. It is simply passing on tasks for others to do. In brief, delegation is something you “do” to people, whereas empowerment is something people do for “themselves.”  Empowerment is more of an intrinsic act and involves taking increasing ownership through self-actualization and initiative. We delegate tasks and the authority to do the tasks; we empower employees to take initiative to complete tasks without delegating them. 
  
Delegation  
A major cause of poor time management and stress management is often a leader/manager’s unwillingness or inability to delegate responsibility to employees. Delegation allows leader/managers to: concentrate on their overall responsibilities, focus on critical opportunities, motivate others, and get the job done. Simply put it is getting the job done through the efforts of others. It’s all about developing and supporting strong teamwork.  
  
A leader/manager has a job to do which is bigger than what she can achieve alone. Therefore, she needs to delegate it to someone on the team. Dr. Peter Honey, a well-respected Occupational Psychologist, points out in his book 101 Ways of Developing People Without Really Trying, when a leader/manager delegates she balances two important factors:  
  
1.      The responsibilities or tasks someone else completes on the leader/manager’s behalf; and   
2.      The authority (or powers) given to the person to carry out the responsibilities.   
  
When the delegator focuses attention on delegating responsibilities (the first factor), there is greater potential for development of the person's skills and abilities. The first course of action for the delegator is to match the individual's capabilities with the delegated tasks. Secondly, when the delegator sees an opportunity to encourage development, she delegates responsibilities that require the person to stretch his capabilities. In this instance, the delegator needs to watch that she doesn’t put the delegated task out of reach of the person’s skill level. 
  
The second factor means the delegator needs to 'let go' and give the individual authority to complete the job without further assistance from the delegator. This allows for authentic delegation and gives an equal blending of the two factors.  Now let’s clarify the delegation process. 
  
The Delegation Process  
  
Delegation just doesn’t happen. It is a conscious effort on the part of a leader/manager to get work done. What I found during my coaching sessions was leader/manager uncertainty about how to delegate appropriately. For many of them they just dumped stuff onto to their employees, and others got some aspects of delegation right but lacked consistency.  Here are five steps to delegation which should help clarify the process.  
  
1.     Sort out the tasks you wish to delegate and define them. Here you are seeking clarity about the tasks you need to complete and the time line in which you need to complete them.  The definition of the task is important as it reduces confusion going forward. Often tasks are delegated without clarity. An example of this is when the manager places something on the desk of one of his team members and says, “Will you do this?” without explaining what “this” is, and without giving any indication when the task is expected to be completed. Whenever possible the best time to sort out the tasks is 15 minutes before you leave the office or the night before. This way you can get your work moving first thing in the morning. 
  
2.     Identify the delegatee. When you consider who you want to delegate the task to, keep in mind the skill level of the individual. You are asking yourself this simple question, “can the individual do the job you are asking him to do?” If not, then further clarification is required. Sometimes things don’t get done because the individual doesn’t know how to do them and is afraid to ask. So, if you don’t know you need to ask the individual if he can complete the task.  If the person doesn’t know how to complete the task this becomes a learning opportunity. If the person does know, then delegate. However, be careful about delegating tasks only to those who know, as those that don’t will never learn. Also, watch whether you delegate only to those located close to you. If you consistently do this, you may lose an opportunity to develop your team members who work in other locations.  
  
3.     Set the priorities and time frame for completion. A practice many managers have is what I call stacking – stacking delegated work on people’s desks without setting priorities and time frames for the work. It goes something like this: “will you do this?” and a bit later, “here’s another one for you,” and an hour later another one lands on the desk. Then the manager comes back and says, “have you got this done?” What should the manager do in these cases? Whenever possible she should delegate all the known tasks at one time, set the priorities and the time frames for completion. This allows the delegatee to plan their workload, set their own priorities and work on their most important task. During the day, however, tasks do pop-up without warning. In these situations, make sure the task is important and urgent, communicate this to the person, and set a time for its completion. 
  
4.     Let go, Monitor, Revise when necessary, and Encourage. Once the task is delegated and you are confident the delegatee can do the work – you need to let it go. Allow the person to do the work. You are delegating “what” needs to be done, and not “how” it should be done – unless the delegatee doesn’t have the skills to do the job. Letting go allows the delegatee to develop, test abilities, and initiate a different way of getting the job done. This latter is an important concept as often the delegatee has a better way of doing things than the manager. If you have concerns about the skill level, monitor the delegatee by checking back periodically but don’t interfere with the work. Allow growth to take place. Encourage and develop rather than control and seek perfection.  
  
5.     Review upon completion.  Once the task is completed by the delegatee and the work is back on your desk, or a report is provided to you that the job is done, then it’s time to assess performance. A job well done deserves praise. A job that isn’t, requires more work on your part. Before blame (which should never be part of the review) comes self-assessment. Did you carry out the first four steps in the process correctly? If you did, you should have caught problems before the completion of the task.  If you were allowing the person to make mistakes, then the question that needs to be explored is “what did you learn from the experience?” and “how can you improve next time.” It is all about developing team members and giving them room to grow in place and time.  
  
Note: My next article will explore the concepts of delegated authority and accountability. In the meantime, review the five steps of the delegation process and apply the relevant ones to your practice.  

Thanks for reading,
Author: Richard P. Fontanie

When we step into a manager's role we usually do so without any preparation about how to become a manager. Somehow by the process of osmosis we are expected to "fit" the position.  We may have been excellent employees and shown potential leadership qualities with our colleagues, customers or bosses; but, just because we were excellent employees doesn't mean that we will become successful managers.  
 
We study to become engineers, nurses, social workers, lawyers, accountants, plumbers, electricians (we can keep adding to the list) and through application we become skilled at what we do. Our learning, both formal and informal, is all about our profession or craft and how to apply our skills to the task at hand. We were not taught how to become managers or leaders. Unfortunately, some of us take on a management role when we should have remained in our previous position because that is where we were most comfortable, satisfied and successful. 
 
There are many reasons why employees move into management positions. They could include: the desire to obtain higher wages, more power and influence, or transform systems and processes, or improve team work. In some instances, employees are approached to move up the ladder by a senior manager or employer. Whatever the reason, employees should be prepared for the role, choose it for the right reason, and be aware of their strengths and shortcomings. They need to be prepared for the challenges they will face which require different thinking, focus, perspective, relationships, skills and an added attribute called "art".  
 
Different Thinking 
 
Excellent employees pay attention to continuous learning revolving around their occupation. Successful companies ensure their employees are skilled at what they do and invest in courses and programs to that end.  When they move into a management role, learning shifts from specific job-related skills to a much broader sphere. Their thinking caps move from the specific technical aspects of their job to the more conceptual requirements of the organization. They now need more knowledge about developing strategies, managing resources, measuring outcomes, and improving products and services. Their thinking role is transformed from job specialization to employee and team development in keeping with the business's overall strategic direction.  
 
Different  Skills 
 
Communicating, influencing, coordinating, motivating, setting goals, managing self, delegating, critical decision-making and problem solving, planning, organizing, managing change, and controlling become critical skill sets for a manager. These skills are applied by engaging employees in finding solutions to different company and customer situations, advancing company policy and values, resolving people problems, building and strengthening teams, and negotiating with internal and external stakeholders. What employees now need is a much more expansive set of skills that go beyond specific on-the-ground work.  
 
Different Relationships  
 
The relationship with his former co-workers also change as the employee steps into a management position. Many managers try to maintain the same “buddy” relationship they had with their former fellow employees after they step into their new role. This often poses problems for them, especially when they need to enforce unpopular company policy, manage poor performance or take corrective action. Another difficulty often occurs when they feel they can provide information to their "buddy" or "buddies" before it's ready for distribution. In these situations, the new manager gets caught up in a drama that often plays out on the ground floor. A drama which causes rumour and innuendo and ends in a loss of confidence in the manager. The manager's attempt to gain trust using the “buddy-buddy” approach with former co-workers becomes a loss of trust within the leadership team or by the employer.  

There are a lot of dynamics going on in the above scenario concerning managerial information sharing. Young managers often confuse the need for confidentiality and transparency, and the use of information as power. The need for confidentiality is generally clear when it pertains to individual personnel matters, but it may not be so clear when the management team (with whom the new manager is now a member) is sorting out a policy decision that may affect members of the new manager’s team and others within the organization. It is appropriate to engage team members in the generality of the policy matter to gain their insight and input (if that is required), but it must be done in a way that doesn’t lead to disruption and discontent. Nor should the new manager use the information as a source of power as in “I know something, but I can’t share it with you.” (a)  The situation is further exacerbated if the policy under discussion affects the whole of the organization and other managers do not engage their team members regarding the issue. People talk to one another in organizations, and this is where rumor, innuendo and more discontent becomes rampant. Communication, judgement, discernment and strategic thinking skills are paramount in these situations. 
 
Different Perspective  
 
The employee who advances to a management position makes the leap from seeing work from a micro perspective to a macro one. The employee is introduced to broader organizational systems, processes and requirements. The perspective of how things "work around here," changes. The new manager is now expected to think in terms of the "big picture" and develop strategic thinking skills.  
 
There are several forces at work here (yes, it is work): an ability to think long term, connect the dots about activities in motion, synthesize complicated interactions both at the human and systems level, reach a stage within the decision making process that goes beyond what is initially perceived, quickly assess the impact of actions and information on the organization, be aware of the competitive environment as well as those who have an interest in the organization's outcomes, and understand not only "what" needs to be accomplished, but "why" it needs to be done.  All leading to a change in perspective.  
 
Different Focus  
 
The primary focus of a manager is the development of the "other." This is a big step from focusing primarily on job specialization. One would think that the essential focus should be on growing the organization and maintaining the company line. Certainly, it is important for managers to promote growth and circle the vision, mission, values and goals of the organization.  However, the question that begs to be asked is, "who actually carries out that direction?" The answer must be "everybody," but It finally rests upon those on the front lines who are the "faces" of the organization.  
 
Managers become the conduit and coordinators through which the strategic elements are directed, communicated and controlled. And, he or she can only carry out those functions through the performance of others. So, the focus of the manager is not on himself or herself, it is on the “other”. How the manager performs these functions relate to his or her leadership and management style and the application of the different knowledge, attributes and skills mentioned above.
 
Plus, Art 
 
So, where does the art come in?  As managers, we must "feel" the vibes of the workplace culture and apply our thinking, perspective, focus and skills so that the relationships among our team players and colleagues flow with energy and synergy.  We become jazz artists taking the lead when necessary, supporting the cast of players as needed, coaching and mentoring performance as required, balancing pressures from above with the needs below and the needs below with the pressures above, and keeping communication, collaboration and coordination in harmony with the overall direction of the organization. Sound simple? It becomes an art form.
 
So, is becoming a manager just a progression from our specialized work? Or, do we need to be prepared for the role? The answer lies within us, so choose wisely.   
 
Here is an interesting article by Emma Bruder about the same subject from an experiential point of vew: “10 hard truths about management no one tells you about” 

Author: Richard P. Fontanie, MSW, FCMC
Up-dated January 9, 2018.
(a) A future article on power and power sharing will explore this topic in more detail.