How far have we come since the good old days?
Good business leadership has evolved; leading a team now is very different from what it was just a few years ago.
As a result of technical advancements, cultural and economic changes, we now know more about organizational behavior, sales, growth, market data, training, and leadership. But what does this all mean? Did it help us do business better? Did it help companies grow faster or did it just make trying and failing a lot easier?
Here’s what we’ll see if we take a good look at our past. This is what “good business leadership” meant in the early years:
Early 1900s
Management meant having a leader that was responsible for everything. Businesses were more stringent then. Employees were given an order and they were expected to follow it to the letter, no questions asked. The manager’s focus was on standardization, maintaining chain of command, and efficient distribution of labor.
The Fifties
Companies are growing and expanding from one industry to another, and this created the need for human resource management. This is when leaders realized that industrialization isn’t the answer to everything.
The age of human resource management brought about the importance of annual reviews, giving job descriptions to employees and goal setting.
The Seventies
The birth of strategic planning, the focus of good business leadership shifted from measuring productivity to the strategic allocation of limited resources, as popularized by GE. The one size fits all approach slowly lost its popularity, as people realized that what worked for one company wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone.
Personality tests, strategic planning, and contingency planning began to surface. Leaders realized that they needed to take a different approach to succeed, and if that approach won’t work, then they need a Plan B.
The Eighties
Six Sigma, and competitive advantage or having a unique selling proposition was the main priorities of leaders in this era. In this time, good business leadership meant having the ability to distinguish your business from competitors.
It’s all about measuring productivity again, but unlike in the Fifties, employees were involved in this process. Employees were surveyed, ask to collect data and create reports, but the goals and big decisions still came from the top management alone.
Let’s fast forward to today, shall we?
21st century… The year of the Internet, Outsourcing, and Data
Years from now, what would the scholars studying our time would see if they looked at our way of doing business?
My guess? Data.
It’s all about data, data, data.
There’s data for everything now.
Good business leadership today is all about collecting data and using it to find ways to improve growth and create value for consumers. Globalization and technological advancements made it possible for us to measure the effectiveness of everything we do.
But even with all the available resources, survey says many people are still unhappy at work. Companies are failing and unemployment is high.
Enough with the history lesson. What does this all tell us?
The management style that worked years ago won’t be enough if you want your organization to grow. Innovation, teamwork, employee engagement- this is what you need. Unfortunately, the top to bottom management style you’re using won’t be enough to get you that. What you need is a good business leadership style that makes people accountable, one that inspires them to contribute and not just follow orders blindly.
© 2013 Incedo Group, LLC
