Sharing information: One of the key components of organisational success


Being in a position of leadership in an organisation is being in a group, an “in-group”, that is, a group which some of those on the outside perceive as being desirable, one that they would give anything to be a part of, one whose status is elevated.

While some of those on the outside of this group, that is the “out-group” are longing to take their place in this “in-group”, many of those who have found themselves in this group keep on devising ways to maintain their position and to keep subordinates firmly in their subordinate position.

The problem with this behaviour is that the goals of the organisation will not be fully met if there is a gap in the organisation which subordinates perceive is being deliberately constructed by leadership in order to keep the two groups from developing any sort of group identity. This is a problem which is compounded by the animosity towards and distrust of leadership which usually ensue in situations like these. Since all members in the organisation are supposed to be working to achieve the objectives of the organisation in a spirit of interdependence, with the leadership leading the process, the absence of this interdependence, the absence of the necessary camaraderie and trust will make the achievement of the objectives of the organisation an uphill task.

 At the heart of this leading should be the ability and willingness on the part of the leadership to effectively communicate the organisation’s mission and goals, the strategy or strategies for achieving them, providing updates on the result of effort expended at different stages and to motivate the led towards greater effort than previously expended.

However, in the “in-group” of leadership, information becomes a most valuable resource. Information is power. It is the group’s source of authority. Therefore, this information is held very “close to the chest”. It is shared reluctantly and not in its entirety. It seems that persons in this group believe that in sharing information with subordinates they will erode their authority.

When the group underperforms, leadership apportions blame, but only to subordinates. When performance improves leadership takes most of the credit.

For persons who are committed to the organisations of which they are a part and display this commitment by carrying out their duties well, this attitude on the part of leadership is a source of frustration. And it is one of the major reasons why many persons in organisations either opt out mentally or physically from the organisation.

To get the best from members of the organisation, those in positions of leadership have to be willing to control their egos. They can enjoy the satisfaction of their elevated status without treating those whom they lead as unimportant cogs in the machinery of the organisation. Being transparent by sharing information is a good start and nothing says respect more than that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teachers: 6 ways to maintain a "good" relationship with your students

Image
Photo credit: pixabay.com You are in a noble profession, or so you've been told. Your job is very important. You are charged with moulding young and not so very young minds to accept and nurture what is "good" and so be a credit to society. Because, society needs "good" people if it is to surge upward in its development.  You're supposed to achieve this noble goal, in spite of whatever resistance/challenge that you meet in the classroom - students who are aggressive, disrespectful, resistant to learning what you are teaching them in the classroom... Some days the challenge of finding the right balance between allowing your students to be students, thus keeping them always happy, and getting them to perform up to the standard that you know they can perform weighs heavily on you. I have been a teacher for more than 25 years and I have survived many of these days. On one such day, I thought up this "tongue in cheek" list, intended to stir
Read more

Improving School Leadership in Ten Easy Steps

Image
Robert Frost, late American poet aptly said,  "education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence". Recently, the news media in a society that will remain unnamed reported that a male school principal was in a fight with a female student. Witnesses, however, reported that there were actually no blows thrown by the principal, in spite of his best efforts to box the student into oblivion. It was a super human effort by those who restrained the principal to keep him in check, as for a moment, he let his mask slip - the mask of being a decent, educated man, in charge of his faculties and who weilded much power - and became the man that the environment in which he grew up moulded, a base human being like many of us who does not turn the other cheek in the face of provocation. It would seem that the student does not respect anyone or anything. She has a reputation for being unruly, foul mouthed, aggressive,  uncooperative, am
Read more

TEACHING MATHEMATICS

  A teacher of Mathematics once told me that if I could add, subtract, divide and multiply, I could master Mathematics because these skills were the foundation of Mathematics. Well, I can add, subtract, divide and multiply, quite well, as a matter of fact. But I wouldn’t say I mastered Mathematics. My memories of Math classes are not great, but they do not leave me depressed. One of my Math classes in third form stands out in my memory to this day. It is the only one that holds a position of prominence in my mind. The teacher was quite pleasant. I remember her sitting at her desk for most of the class, waiting for us to bring our work to her for correction after she had “taught” us the fundamentals of whatever topic was introduced. (Sitting is not a bad thing to do. I like the idea of having a chair at the ready in my classroom so I can rest my weary legs, if I choose to). So, back to my third form Math class. I can still see a “stick man”, standing at the top of an incline. Our job as
Read more