Financial Times 03.7.2020

FT.COM/MAGAZINEMARCH 7/82020ILLUSTRATIONBY HARRYHAYSOM 5

[email protected] @KuperSimon

Whendoers takeonstrategy, their manic

energy(“changeis the onlyconstant!”)can be

disastrous.Johnsonsaysthat,especiallyafterthe

Christmasholidays,bossesriskcomingbackwith

“randomnewideastheyhavecomeacross,orthe

latest management fadintheir sector,whether

it’s‘agile’or‘digital’.”

Sheexplains:“TheyreadsomethinginHarvard

Business Review,they’re in the airport and pick

up abusiness book, and the shiny new idea gets

put into the system when it’sthe last thing the

systemneeds.”

M

any bossesalso imagine they

have to motivate staff. In fact,

theriskofdemotivatingthemis

muchhigher.Millennials,who

consistentlysay insurveys that

theycrave empowermentat

work, don’t want a55-year-old

shoutingslogansat them and

stickingup laminatedposters

abouttheirorganisation’samaz-

ing“culture”.

The underlying problem

is that the boss typicallythinkshe’s Steve Jobs,

when statisticallyheismuch morelikelytobe

the maddeningincompetent David Brent from

theTVseriesTheOffice.

Anew boss shouldthereforetakethe tradi-

tionalphysician’s oath: first,donoharm. My

“Don’t just do something”friendemails:“I’ve

made surethereisastrategy(mostlywrittenby

my colleagues), Isolve problemsbetweencol-

leagues, Irepresent the organisationtowards

our board and sometimesexternally, and Ikeep

thingshappyinthe office(we’re gettingping-

pongtables!).That’saboutit.”

WhenIran his leadershipphilosophyby

Johnson,she partiallyapproved, thoughshe

thinksheshouldbedoingmorestrategy. It’strue

that my friendmaynot go down in historyas a

transformative leader.Onthe other hand,he’s

unlikelytobeacatastropheeither.

Thinkoftheworld’smostprominentbossjob,

theUSpresidency. GeorgeWBushspentthefirst

monthsof his administrationtakingrepeated

holidaysathisTexasranch.Hewasoftencriticised

for that –until, after the attacksof September

11 2001,herushedback to the office and threw

togetherastrategytoremakethe MiddleEast.

Now,people criticiseDonald Trumpfor playing

toomuchgolf.Iwishhe’d playmore.

I

’m at an age when some of my peers are

becomingbossesoftheir organisations.

I’ve recentlychattedtothree who admit

to feelingconfused. Whentheywere

underlings,theyknew what their tasks

were.Butnowtheywonder:whatisaboss

meanttodoallday?

Being GenerationX-ers,theysuffer

from imposter syndrome, aresomewhat

in awe of their staff and don’t want to

run around shoutingat them.One of my

friendshasconcluded:“Thereisn’t much

concretelythat Ican do in our business without

causingaccidents.” Henowtakeslonglunchesand

sometimesgoes home at 4pm. His management

motto,which he keeps secret,is: “Don’t just do

something–standthere!”

Youwon’t findthis mottoin airport business

books.However,Isuspectthat manyheadsof

companies, governmentdepartmentsandNGOs

shouldadoptittoo.

Thetraditionalbossisadoer.He(94percentof

chiefexecutivesofFTSE100companiesaremen)

hastypicallyspenthiscareergettingupearlyand

hittingkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs).He

wasselectedpartlyforhisstamina.Thelatechief

executive of agiant multinationalcompanywas

distinguished(one of his friendstells me) by his

abilityto get drunkuntil 2am, then rise at 6am

and –after fortifyinghimselfwith aswift tot –

deliverafluentpresentationat7am.

Thedoer-bossrarelylacksego,especiallyafter

gettingthetopjob.At7amondayone,hecharges

intotheoffice,eagertogetstuckin.

The onlyproblemis: what to do?Elsbeth

Johnson,authorof the new bookStepUp,Step

Back:HowtoReallyDeliverStrategicChangeinYour

Organization,s ays the boss’s job is makingstrat-

egy: “Whatis the purpose of our organisation?

What does good look like? Howdowebehave –

witheachother,withourcustomers–inorderto

delivertheseoutcomes?”

She says an organisationneedsalimited

number of prioritiesand projects. The boss

shouldsettheseearlyon,thenspendyearsensur-

ingtheygetcarriedout.“Youhavetobeprepared

tobebored,”Johnsontellsthebossesshementors.

“You’ll be talkingabout the same strategies, not

makingnewdecisions.”

Butnothinginthetypicalboss’sascenthasbeen

apreparationforstrategicthinking.Feworgani-

sationssetKPIs.Manybossesregardstrategising

as something to do in their downtime,after the

realworkofproducingstuffisdone.Inthephrase

ofonebanker: “Strategyisforafterfive.”Andso

the boss starts“helping”his expert underlings

withtheirdailywork,eventhoughhe’s probably

yearsoutofdate,especiallyonthetech.Heends

upwastinghissalarydoinggruntworkandstunt-

ingeveryoneelse’s careergrowth.Themodelfor

the leaderas micromanageris JimmyCarter,

who in his first monthsas US president person-

allyreviewed staffers’ requeststouse the White

Housetenniscourts.

‘Manybossesimagine they

have to motivatestaff.Infact,

theriskofdemotivating

them is much higher’

SIMON

KUPER

OPENINGSHOT

Doless work:

toptips for the

modernboss