Considering the readings from Obolensky, as well as the other selections for this week, what seems to be happening is a greater demand for leaders to be almost omnipotent, knowing everything about what happens under their organization. Why this is happening can vary from case to case, but generally speaking this may be due to the higher profiles leaders have in being credited for successes and failures in their organizations, whether it be successes such as Apple or Google, or any number of fallen or organizations hitting upon hard times such as Chrysler and GM. In either case, it is the senior leader that is in the spotlight of media and society, being hailed either as a genius or fraud as they are held accountable for what has transpired in the organization. Additionally, Obolensky seems to be getting at the concept of a "flat" organization in his writing, something I've seen discussed in other courses as essentially giving greater empowerment to subordinates to ask questions or share knowledge in order to cultivate a diversity of ideas and increase engagement in the organization's activities.
In the case of my organization, it is expected in a multitude of ways that the leader is credited with all successes and failures. If something is botched, I'm held responsible and am expected to fix it. If something goes well, even though I may have never touched the keyboard or executed the planning process, I can take credit for the purposes of awards or annual performance reports. It is even told to use in multiple forms of mentorship that we are ultimately responsible for whatever happens, even if we delegate. In that sense, we are running into the risks inherent to a traditional hierarchy. At the same time, we also have built into our service culture the idea of innovation and not settling for business as usual. There are mechanisms by which the lower tiers can pass up ideas or (tactfully) challenge questionable leadership policies and plans. Officers are expected to engage with their senior enlisted, and all ranks know that the younger enlisted personnel are expected to have hands on knowledge and technical expertise. To make things even more interesting, there's even something of an unwritten expectation for a healthy duty section that the officer will provide top cover for their section (e.g. giving the commander reasonable assurances issues will be resolved and thus buying time to work in relative peace), and the personnel will execute their duties and pass up information so as to bolster the officer's reputation and appearances.
Having said all of that, I don't believe there is much that needs to be done for promoting dialog and breaking down the leadership charade, as there already exists a certain dichotomy for polyarchy type organizational functionality under the framework of a traditional hierarchy. Having said that, there are unique challenges for leadership dynamics and organizational strategy. In most cases, commanders rotate about every two years...this means that besides different leadership styles being introduced to an audience where a fair portion may have already had one or two previous leadership climates, any long term strategy needs to be especially robust. If a strategy involves a plan that has a more limited lifespan of a year, perhaps two, its fairly sure the plan will carry out. However, anything extending further will need to have enough structure so as to maintain continuity with existing personnel, while also having just enough flexibility to accommodate not only changing work conditions, but also changing leadership climates. On that note, that could well make for the groundwork of truly excellent strategy...something that endures throughout time and defines an organization, no matter who specific members may be at a given time, while still ensuring long term success and survivability.
Resources
Obolensky,
N. (2010). Complex Adaptive Leadership. Surrey, England: Gower Publishing
Limited.
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