Bureaucracy gets a bad wrap.
…but we couldn’t operate without it.
In our Leadership team the final and key member is the Organizer. Think of this person as the connector, rather than the doer, and you’ll start to see how they can help your team not hinder them.
As organizations become larger and more complex there’s a reason that they become more hierarchical, and that’s because leadership has to be delegated and segmented to be effective. Delegated Leadership should be seen as a necessity, like delegated tasks in an operating environment. not an enemy of effectiveness. A small group just cannot make decisions for a large organization. If decisions are wholly delegated, consistency and efficiency can suffer.
A good organizer is like a pair of arms, connecting the head to the work. 2 way communication not just top down. Too many arms get in the way.
The problem with bureaucracy comes when leaders fail to delegate sufficient authority for operating leaders to control outcomes. Specialist functions take control of parts of decision making. Finance sets the budget but not the outcomes. HR sets recruitment policy and maybe even controls headcount. IT controls digital systems and so on. None of these are bad in themselves but without strong coordination can lead to inefficiency and frustration.
The traditional picture of a corporate structure as a triangle is a mis-representation as it implies full visibility from the top when actually visibility is limited. An effective hierarchy needs strong leadership at the top, clear measures and objectives and clear links for each part with the overall outcome.
“ no one it seems, approves of bureaucracy except, interestingly, lots of people in organizations who like to know where they stand, what they have to do, and what the rules are..”
Charles Handy
Despite the bad press that Role based leadership gets it remains the dominant organizational culture. For good reason.
Once upon a time the only large organizations were military or religious. Both adopted hierarchy and regimentation for the same reason. To enable those at the top to exert control. If the arms took over control from the heads it was a failure of leadership.
That role based organizations are slower in decisions is a feature not a bug, so patience helps.
Good leaders realize the need to be organized and accept that how they organize is a key part of their leadership style and also their strategy.
Good leaders lead their bureaucrats so that the whole Team can do a better job.