Managers, governors, and leaders must serve those who create value.
The phrase widely used is “servant leader” but we prefer “servant manager”. Not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. “Servant leader” actually talks about how to manage.
Managers are mostly overhead to daily work: managers don’t do work, they don’t make many of the decisions. Managers don’t know the answers and shouldn’t be expected to. Every level of hierarchy further removed from the actual work reduces the probability that a manager will know the solutions or add value.
Servant managers know this – they don’t try. They let the people doing the work design the work, in their own way with their own tools; and the management provides them with the resources, knowledge, and skills they need to succeed. They provide the conditions for staff to flourish. Servant managers are gardeners not commanders. A manager needs to take control occasionally, generally in chaotic crisis, but they should use a light touch.
So, if they don’t make decisions and come up with the answers, what do managers do? Be Open Managers.