Rúna Bouius on Managing People

Rúna Bouius suggests in a newsletter that we need to replace the term “managing people” with something else.

Rúna writes (Sept 3, 2022) that:

It started with a young leader…contacting me to ask for advice about a workplace dilemma. He explained how he…likes to reach out to subordinates so he can understand where they are coming from and what their needs are. …he wants to create an atmosphere where his people feel appreciated and have a feeling of belonging.
But that kind of leadership is not going down well with some of his senior leaders, who ridicule him and talk down to him… He says his bosses enjoy making others feel less and instilling fear… They are rude, insensitive, and hard on people.
What’s surprising to him is how…people take the abuse and seem to respond positively to the leaders who terrorize them and threaten to fire them. I explained to him that that’s…what people do when their jobs and livelihood are threatened. They can’t afford to lose their jobs, so they try to ignore the abuse and pretend they are fine. But deep down, of course, they are not fine. Anything but…
What we are talking about here is the old command and control management style based on hierarchy and domination (“Power over”) versus the new type of leadership based on partnership, collaboration, and co-creation (“Power to” and “Power with.”)

I agree with Rúna Bouius and think that traditional top-down command and control management is a poor way of organizing work. It is a waste of human energy and creativity. We need to create workplaces where people can thrive.

Rúna asks what other terms we can come up with replacing the term “managing people”? What about organizing, not people, but the work? It’s best done by the people who actually do the work. Hence, my interest in organizing between and beyond.

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