Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

A reader sent me a great email the other day. He said that while he enjoys my columns, I can get a bit "touchy-feely" in my topics.

Managing and leading, he argued, involves being tough in many situations. Empowerment and freedom is great, but there needs to be direction and control.

He is 100% right. But I'm not 100% wrong either.  

I think it gets down to to this: Balance.

Throwing out employee handbook, rules and processes in the name of employee freedom and empowerment is silly.  But any more silly than excessive micro-managing?

Always giving encouragement with never a thought given about accountability? Not good. But is that worse than the other extreme? 

Sometimes I write to simply put a thought in your (and my) head.  A thought that might pull you off of an extreme position, back toward a balanced approach. 

Maybe that's why yoga and pilates are all the rage. With so many issues and competing concerns, today's manager/leader can't have enough balance. At work. Or in the office.  If you get too far out in one direction, something or someone is going to tip over.