The demands placed on leaders today to be influential agents of change are unprecedented. Those who find themselves rising through the leadership ranks are often encouraged to drive their teams to new heights and play an active role in shaping their organisations to keep up with today’s rapidly evolving markets and business cycles.
But one of the most common problems I witness among such leaders is frustration. Executives finding themselves with more responsibilities tend to think the formal and incentive structures of their organisations confer them more leverage than they actually do. Although those structures influence the behaviors of managers and subordinates, sometimes they do it in ways that actually makes it harder for leaders to achieve their goals. Incentives typically focus behavior on a narrow set of measurable targets, often at the expense of other equally important but less quantifiable outcomes.
That’s the way it is…unfortunately…. we said that many many times… Anyway… nice article! Thank you Dennis!