Why controlling leadership is quietly undermining team capability

The level of complexity and uncertainty this next decade is bringing is like nothing we have experienced to date and the old ways of leading, the systems and structures that have been so carefully constructed to support that leadership approach, are no longer fit for purpose. The complexity leaders are navigating today cannot be managed by one person at the top. It requires distributed thinking, judgment at every level and teams that can move without waiting for permission. Controlling leadership diminishes this capability at every turn.

Role refocus

It is time for leaders to refocus their role and determine what is truly required of them as a leader if the business is to thrive. It is about strengthening their own leadership capability in order to build capability in their team. For some this will mean seeking structured feedback on their leadership and being intentional about the kind of leader they need to be, NOT what their personal preference is. 

They will undoubtedly need support to develop these skills and my guess is it is not in a traditional leadership development program. Their technical excellence is not what is required of them, presumably they have a team for that. What is required is to build a strong, aligned, capable team.

Sitting with the discomfort

Most leaders agree intellectually with the need to shift out of controlling and to develop the capability of the team. The hard part is what it takes personally to put it into practice. There is inevitably discomfort and that’s hard for many leaders to sit with. The discomfort comes with sitting back and watching the team take a different path, possibly initially a less effective one, maybe one that will fail. It might be hard to watch individual team members struggle to develop their critical thinking capacity when they can see the way forward clearly.

The shift from control to capability is not about stepping back from leadership or adopting a passive style that leaves teams without direction. It’s about where the leader’s energy is directed. The focus shifts from execution to fostering the environment in which others can solve rather than providing the solutions. The shift to strengthening the team’s capability lies in the leader’s ability to coach and mentor rather than direct, to communicate what success looks like and then hold individuals to account for delivering it. Calling out behaviours that undermine the team’s ability to perform, rather than absorbing the consequences and ignoring it is something many leaders find the hardest shift of all.