Control. Are you sure you want that?

by Patrick Farrell

The notion of control—organizational control–the ability to issue commands and make things happen is alluring. In the midst of a change process, it sounds like control of a wide range of elements is the only way to be sure all the pieces work like they should to get the result you want.  Further, if a senior leader is responsible for the outcome of the effort, it may seem the only way to carry out the responsibility properly is to have final say on every key element and how they will fit together.

In my experience, this way of thinking is widely held, frequently espoused, and in most cases, not useful.

How much control should senior leaders give up during a change project?

I suggest senior leaders think carefully about the elements of a change project, both present and future, and the key decision points that are likely to occur. For the moment, accept the asymmetry of responsibility or accountability with only limited control, and imagine how that approach could be helpful. In fact, I suggest senior leaders imagine how much “control” they can give to others in the project—and do so sincerely.

Ego aside, exerting control takes a lot of time and energy—bandwidth that might not be very usefully spent. Exerting control also sends a number of messages to colleagues and direct reports—you aren’t sure you trust them to make good choices, and while their efforts might inform you, your judgement is still the only significant judgment that counts. None of these messages are likely to engage others in your organization to do their best work, nor are they  going to build capacity for the next change.

So—how much control should you “keep”? Enough so that you, too can own the results going forward.

How to be accountable during a change project.

As a senior leader, you also have the responsibility and accountability for supporting the work of those around you. In particular, you are responsible for supporting the process and work of committees you ask to do work. Members of some committees, while proud of their work, may be reluctant to be the face of the result, anticipating internal or external criticism and push-back of their conclusions (a good reminder of culture work still to be done). Want the next set of committee members to agree to serve? They will be watching what you do here. Accept the work of the committee, credit them for their energy and creativity, then own the outcome so if there are critiques, they come to you. You don’t need to defend the committee’s opinions. You do need to defend them in terms of what they did (it’s what you asked them to do) how they did it (they discussed this with you) , and what conclusions they came to (these are from the committee, but it is exactly why you asked these people to serve).

Safety and authority while overseeing a change project.

Let me change the subject for a minute to Safety and Authority. Safety is about whether and how you can use some of the perhaps unusual suggestions I make without feeling your stature is at stake—or even you job is. Authority, which I’ll comment on in a minute, is the way you view yourself and others might view you in terms of your capacity to do things. If you looked at my bio, you will know I am an older white man. You can’t see other aspects of who I am, but you might guess. For most of my administrative career in higher education, I had a ‘backup’ appointment as a tenured professor. This adds to a fairly privileged position from which to make choices, take chances, and deal with the consequences if things go way wrong. Readers may or may not be concerned about these issues, but it’s useful to recognize your own situation—and that of others. I am not suggesting you don’t take risks, but be smart about them and take ones that will really matter.

I mention Authority here as a shorthand to recognize that my experiences, for example with giving control to others, come from a starting point in which my authority wasn’t really questioned. I realize not everyone reading this is in that situation. I hope the suggestions I make are useful and applicable, even if your situation has challenges mine does not.

Let me return to my starting topic. Control, and the related issues of trust and engagement.  These are interrelated, and I encourage leaders with power or control to think carefully about how to delegate (really delegate, not cosmetically delegate) to others, not as a favor but as recognition that they may be in a better position to make a good decision. For those decision responsibilities you need to retain—don’t apologize but be clear how and why you will exercise that responsibility.

Are there other perspectives on Control?

My colleague Katherine Sanders and I have decided to write on a common topic, each from our own experience and perspective. You can find Katherine’s post on this topic at (Blog by Katherine Sanders of Sanders Consulting). We are starting a discussion thread on LinkedIn on this title, and invite folks who would like to comment or contribute their own view to go to either of our LinkedIn profiles and look for the post you want to comment on or add to.