Since the Industrial Revolution, management has relied on hierarchy to control assets\nand employees. The negative impact of that hierarchical control on employee\nperformance has long been recognized, yet in spite of expert and scholarly attempts to\nsolve these problems hierarchical control generally continues to dominate\nmanagement theory and practices. This article argues that is because these problems\nare rooted not in hierarchy, but rather in organizational expectations of hierarchy.\nHierarchy emphasizing â??liberating servant leadershipâ? (Dr. Isaac Getz of the ESCP\nBusiness School in Paris introduced the term â??liberating leadership,â? the French\nequivalent of which â??entreprise libéréeâ? has become a household term in France. Max\nDe Pree suggested the leader must become a servant in Leadership is an Art. This\ncombines the two concepts.) instead of controlling employees can produce\nextraordinary business results. Eighteen innovative CEOs (The innovative CEOs and their\nsuccessful companies in alphabetical order are Bill Gore, W.L. Gore Company; Bob\nBeyster, Science Applications International Corporation; Bob Davids, Radica Games &\nSea Smoke Vineyard and Winery; Bob Koski, Sun Hydraulics; Bob Townsend, AVIS; David\nKelley, IDEO; Garry Ridge, WD-40; Gordon Forward, Chaparral Steel; Harry Quadracci,\nQuad/Graphics; Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines; Jeff Westphal, Vertex; Ken Iverson,\nNucor Steel; Kim Jordan, New Belgium Brewing; Max De Pree, Herman Miller; Paul\nStaley, PQ Corporation; Rich Teerlink, Harley Davidson; Robert McDermott, USAA\nInsurance; and Stan Richards, The Richards Group. Additional details about each leader\ncan be found in the books Freedom, Inc. by Brian Carney and Isaac Getz and\nQuestioning Corporate Hierarchy by Paul Staley and Bill Nobles.) whom I have studied\ndiscovered this by trial and error while trying to take advantage of Douglas McGregorâ??s\nTheory Y. Their leadership changed the design of their organizations. Believing that\nindividuals can drive themselves more effectively than managers can, these CEOs\nsought to create conditions in which associates committed themselves to\norganizational objectives, and satisfied their ego and self-development needs. The CEOs\nrelied on hierarchy to control financial assets, but fundamentally changed the human\ndimension. The organizational roles traditionally called â??middle managersâ? responsible\nfor controlling employees became â??liberating servant leadersâ? responsible for ensuring\nthat associates had everything needed to freely self-control and self-coordinate their \nefforts. The resulting self-motivated, creative employees played key roles in each CEOâ??s\ncompany being extraordinarily successful. These experiences provide a foundation for\ntransforming the human role of hierarchy in organizational design.
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