Managing a Workforce Mutiny

You're a great delegator, but when it comes to rallying your team in a crisis, you're met with mutinous stares.

Kevin Kelly and Gary E. Hayes can explain. Kelly, the CEO of executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, and Hayes, co-founder of US-based human capital consultancy Hayes Brunswick & Partners, have consulted their considerable contacts list to compile a new book, "Leading in Turbulent Times".

Don't be put off by a somewhat unoriginal title: Kelly and Hayes have tapped their collective network to find examples of dilemmas and solutions based in reality.

Take this example of how one leader coped with dissent in the ranks (paraphrased heavily):

• The dilemma: a young manager has thus far been great at delegating. But a crisis forces him to switch to a more authoritative style -- 'we need to do this, I need you to do this by Friday'. Instead of getting behind their hitherto easy-going manager, staff rebelled and nearly mutinied. Confused, the manager sought advice from his boss, a highly experienced "managerial sage" who happened to have grown up on a farm.
• The explanation: "The problem is you've got winter horses," the boss told the manager. On the farm, they'd only ride the horses in the summer, putting them into a barn over the winter. Each spring, they'd re-saddle the horses and the horses would buck them off. They'd have to be broken in every year. The farm's solution was simple: saddle up and ride the horses once a month in the barn. The manager had delegated so completely that his team had lost all sense of hierarchy. "They have no sense that it's a really good idea -- good for everybody -- for them to be doing team-like things with you to get through this crisis," the boss explained. "They're just bucking you off because you haven't done that kind of thing for a while."
• A leader's advice: Begin meeting to go through issues as a group on a regular basis -- weekly, if possible. Start monitoring what people are doing and get more involved in managing those processes, without resorting to micro-management. The idea is to subtly remind everyone that they are part of a hierarchy.