Sprenger considers the constant “disruption” of employees’ work a tribute to
their self-determination. The manager owes them as much change as reasonably
possible, because they are adults (see Sprenger 2000, p. 24). But is this really what
the people want? Isn’t it quite authoritarian to believe that you know exactly what is
good for the people – namely, constant change? Creativity and performance require
freedom, but also limits, even if only to be able to consciously exceed them.
Excessive care coupled with distrusting control kills any motivation, “under-
challenges” employees and removes their onus of responsibility – fear and
disorientation paralyze people and organizations.
Leadership means traveling the road ahead. This is not about direct control, but
rather giving impulses for the development of the individual and the entire organi-
zation. It is about creating conditions in which employees have the freedom to
develop their own potential, and want to do their best. It is about creating a simple,
understandable and clearly formulated mission based on their vision. The leader has
to provide a clear business philosophy that the employees can follow. It is his or her
task to bundle the performance of the people and to direct them into a collabora-
tive direction so that their strengths are most effective and their weaknesses
are negligible (see Drucker 2000). And it is also about taking responsibility for
what has changed and what remains, because responsibility is crucial in every
management process.
What is important? Creating free space in order to dare new things, to make
mistakes, to try to create innovations without having to fear for your job, and
without having to fear being ridiculed by your colleagues or leaders. Promoting
individualism, providing security: We need you just as you are. Nobody is perfect,
but you’re the best person we have – these should the messages of the leader.
Learning requires security, confidence, and trust.
Change is well and good, not for change’s sake, but as a necessary adaptation to
a changing environment. Uncertainty must not become a permanent part of corpo-
rate culture. Abrupt turning maneuvers, the much-debated “turnarounds,” are not
necessary in companies that are consistently well managed, because the leaders
recognize change early and initiate gradual adjustments. Neither globalization
nor the spread of modern communication technologies appeared overnight. And
are turnarounds ever appropriate? Henry Mintzberg, who champions “managing
quietly,” rightly observes that after turning about you come back to exactly where
you started and are looking the in the same direction as before.
Yet I also feel that “managing quietly” must not degenerate to “managing
boringly,” because leadership must always be inspiring. In this respect, I have to
contradict Fred Malik again, who in a famous interview – perhaps with his own kind
of provocation – has said: “Most managers are boring people. There is nothing else
to report about them, as they lead an orderly life without affairs and scandals. I love
boring managers. But they are never in the media, and they never go to talk shows.”
(Fred Malik in an interview: “Even board members should sometimes ride the
subway,” in theFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 14, 2004, p. 35).
A middle ground must be found between leadership that patronizes, and leader-
ship that incapacitates. Both force the employees into the role of the child or the
184 3 Systemic Leadership or: Designing a World That Others Want to Be Part Of