Re: Re: Do C-Level managers, and business drivers really need to know about XP?

Hi Steve,

 > How does one who intends to be "empowering" avoid being seen as
 > abdicating?

The only sure way I know is to avoid being seen at all.  Probably 
not what you want.

 > I have tried very hard to be an empowering manager at my
 > current place of employment.  During annual review time, I got
 > almost universal feedback that I was "not directing them
 > enough".  This feedback was from my team members, not my boss.

Your management style is probably a change from what they are 
used to, and raises troublesome questions that they don't (yet) 
know how to answer, especially How will we be evaluated?

 > I guess my point is that the tricky part is finding the
 > balance.

As with most questions of balance, I don't think balance is the 
most helpful question.  Seeking "the right level" assumes that 
there *is* a right level, and I don't think that's true here.

Rather than trying to figure out "how much control," consider 
asking: Which things will I try to control, and which will I not? 
  Which things will I abdicate, and which will I not?  By which 
actions will I empower, and in which situations?

 > Even then, somebody will come back with the idea that you
 > either abdicated too much, or controlled too much.

Again, the question of "how much" seems unfruitful to me.  Try to 
move from balance ("how much") to selection ("which").  Which 
things did each person want you to control more, and which less? 
  The answers are likely to be different for different people.

How do *you* feel about your mix of empowerment, control, and 
abdication?  What would *you* change?

Dale

-- 
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:    http://www.dhemery.com



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