A bad manager rules by committee
By all means consult employees, but don't be led by popular opinion.
Just as Gordon Brown to'd and fro'd on just about everything
when he first came into power, so the bad manager bounces decisions
around like a bouncy ball in a squash court.
"There are just too many conflicting opinions," bad manager cries,
trying to accommodate all of them and ending up with a messy
amalgam of half-results rather than one clear, focused, productive
outcome.
Stop. Breathe. You can't please everybody. Yes, of course it is
vital to take others' viewpoints on board. Particularly your most
senior members of staff. But ultimately, just one decision needs to
be made, and it needs to be made by you. No company can survive
without a strong, decisive leader - whether it's a FTSE-100
super-business or a three-man door-to-door sales startup.
Without leadership, there is nothing but chaos. A team needs
direction. You may feel uncomfortable asserting yourself and going
against the wider grain of opinion, but it's you that your team
turns to for focus, targets and strategy. You have to be the one
making those crucial decisions.
Don't, for heaven's sake, spend days listening endlessly to all
your senior employees, trying to find a happy medium. There isn't
one.
Letting yourself become flummoxed by multiple opinions wastes a
hell of a lot of time. You can sit in a boardroom for hours going
round in dizzying, nausea-inducing circles, and the only thing
you'll learn is that most of your employees are stubborn.
Dithering makes people question your strength of character and, by
default, your ability as a leader.
You need to distance yourself from individuals and make a
judgement. Spelling out the one, clear path of action may put out
those who suggested a different route forward, but it will give
your company direction. It will inspire your employees with
confidence. It means everyone can move forward. It puts an end to
that pointless internal bickering.
You're the boss, and both you and your employees need to know that
you're the boss precisely because, more often than not, you do know
best.