Dealing with Outmoded Management Styles of Power and Control

The workplace is loaded with friction between outmoded management styles bumping up against motivated or inspired initiative trying to fit into a container where power is based on authority rather than leadership.

It doesn't work. So what do you do?

The use of control sits on top of a fear of losing it. In other words it mirrors back a need for security that is based both on fear or insecurity where image hopes to replace substance and sometimes competence. A recent case in point is the 2010 Vancouver Olympic organization VANOC which appears to have become the local lightening rod for community discontent. There are a couple of reasons for that only one of which has to do with VANOC.

1) There is an assumption that those who have power know how to wield it effectively. This is not necessarily the case. The symptom that accompanies this dynamic is the public expectation that an organization will lead the way on the obvious social initiatives that contribute to community development. We also saw this in the government response to Katrina...or the lack thereof. The private sector filled the gap but in other instances it will be citizen lead initiative.

2) Lack of transparency particular when public funds are involved. This is the kiss of broken trust. Combine that with a fixation on image and you have situations like the one with VANOC mentioned above. Fixation on image looks like trademarking ordinary words that are presumably intellectual property. If the press is to be believed, in the case of the Olympics this would sound like It's Our Time to Shine; Celebrate the Impossible; Driven by Dreams; See you in Vancouver -  Beijing - Whistler and other phrases that up to now have been the talk of travel or personal growth and motivation.

Credibility takes a visible beating when trademarking demonstrates how impractical and imposing intellectual property protection is, especially when it is protecting ideas not worthy of protection. They just are not creative enough!

Meanwhile it calls for individuals dealing with such agencies to take the highest road imaginable and not force, manipulate, or influence (otherwise it is like the pot calling the kettle black) but rather to inspire, model, and initiate. Eventually someone will see the light and want to follow a path that leads to real results.

Taking a principled approach requires a higher level of personal mastery but it is the most effective way to work toward solution rather than amplify the division. Start by using language of inclusivity rather than me-they.