FIRE ALL THE MANAGERS

This is a quote from an article in Harvard Business Review.  It led me to approach clients with this question:

How do you in your manager's role add value to your organization's success ['beyond what your people contribute]?

The answer is usually focused on tasks performed, not value added.

Managers would be more successful in focusing on building successful cultures, building relations with other functions, inspiring their team to work up to their full potential and publicly acknowledging their people's successes.

Without that consider that management:

•  Is an expensive overhead, generally 33% of payroll
• Increases the risk of bad judgment...most powerful managers are the furthest from front-line realities
• Slows down decision making with unnecessary layers and bias
• Disenfranchises lower-level employees

Virtually every executive I have coached, struggles with adding meaningful value.  Just ask their employees their opinion.