Study: Most managers are ineffective
Sanjeev Himachali
Study: Most managers are ineffective
Bruch and Ghoshal's study quantified my impression. "What we found in our research surprised us," the authors write. "Only about 10 percent of the managers took purposeful action." The remainder was busy, just not very effective: 40 percent were energetic but unfocused; 30 percent had low energy, little focus and tended to procrastinate; and 10% were focused, but not very energetic.
The 40 percent who are energetic but unfocused are the ones you have to work on. They want to do useful work and are up for a challenge. They just don't know where to start or how to prioritize. When you have a coherent strategy, you give this energy meaningful direction. Unfocused energy is rarely the fault of the individual. Rather, it's an indication that your strategy isn't sufficiently understood or being translated into goals.
The 30 percent who have low energy and little focus are tough nuts to crack. Did they start well and just run out of steam? Are they in the wrong jobs or the wrong company? There's a high likelihood they started out in the energetic 40 percent cohort but became disillusioned and disengaged by their inability to have an impact. Your best hope is that galvanizing the 40 percent creates enough draw within the organization that the best of these get swept along.
I don't really worry about the focused but less effective 10 percent. In my experience, focus is always valuable, even if it's slow. In most companies, everyone knows who fits into which category. You probably know, too. The question is: What are you going to do about them?
Link to the article: http://articlesandreports.blogspot.com/2012/01/study-most-managers-are-ineffective.html and http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57355776/study-most-managers-are-ineffective/
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Sanjeev Himachali
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