It's Bring Your Brain to Work Day!

Too many managers these days are micro-managing the engagement right out of their people.

Some managers believe they need to micro-manage the minutia in the midst of financial struggles. Some have resorted to having every decision go through them, which is highly stressful and lowly productive. Some managers are sending the signal that employees should keep their noses to the grindstone, not ask questions, and do only what they are told to do.

You've probably dealt with employees who have managers like that lately. You can tell because it is like dealing with someone who did not bring their brain to work. They cannot think beyond what a training manual advises. They cannot make any exceptions to the rule. They might even say something like, "That's not my job. You'll have to talk with someone else."

When managers clamp down, employees get the signal that their ideas are not necessary. While some employees may enjoy coasting in their jobs for a short time, most will resent being treated like monkeys (as in "any monkey can do this job") and will clam up. They will not take initiative for process improvement, customer solutions, revenue generation, or cost savings.

Clammed-up employees leave their brains at home because their managers clamped down and are doing all the thinking for them.

This month's Harvard Business Review has an article about this very topic called "To Be a Leader, Give Up Authority". The authors share research which "provides hard evidence that leaders who give in to the urge to clamp down can end up doing their companies a serious disservice."

The HBR article goes on to stress that leaders are not micro-managers. Leadership is about building responsibility for the business throughout the organization. To build such responsibility, employees need to bring their brains to work. The organizations which will succeed beyond this current economy are those who inspire creativity and innovative thinking. Brains are needed for that!

Be careful: if you send the signal to employees that their brains are not needed at work these days, they just might leave them at home. Send the signal, instead, that this is Bring Your Brain to Work Day and you will inspire the type of thinking and behavior that will lead to success.