“我说了算！”—— 一种有缺陷的领导方式

    大多数人认为，老板充分行使职权的根本在于权力和威望。老板的权力越多越好。

    电影、电视和大众文学都在宣扬一种老套的管理模式，通过它们，一个好的企业领导总是被刻画成一个颐指气使的形象，并且在言行举止方面，总要摆出一副“我说了算”的架势。

    但事实并非如此。利•普朗科特•托斯特、弗朗切斯卡•基诺和理查德•P•拉里克三位研究人员提出了最新证据，对这种观点进行了批判。在哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）近期在线发表的一份工作论文中，他们提出了自己的观点：“……当一位领导者的权力欲望加重时，他或她将倾向于控制团队中的言论和交流，进而抑制团队成员的作用，最终降低团队的绩效。”

    换句话说，以“我是老板”的心态看待自己的工作，老板在与下属的讨论中往往表现得自以为是。这既限制了其他人表达自己观点的时间，实际上也是在告诉他们：“你们的观点无足轻重。我的观点才是最重要的。”而最终结果必然是，观点越来越少，创新能力也被削弱。

    当然，权力或者威望本身并没有什么问题。真正重要的是，拥有这种权力的人如何对待它们。以我们的研究和经历来看，许多老板认为，权力是促使其他人完成必要工作的重要途径。当然，他们很少会坦率地说出来，但他们要传达的意思已经非常明显：“照我说的做，因为我是老板，我说了算。”

    把这一观点放在老板，或者是经理人和企业领导者的实际职责中来考虑，结果会怎样呢？老板是要对其他人的绩效负责的。他通过影响其他人来履行该职责——通过塑造和影响其他人的行为、思想和情感——使每个人以及整个团队的工作更加高效。

    既然经理人的核心任务是要影响其他人，那么，如何才能最有效地完成这个任务呢？

    传统观点认为，施加影响的核心工具，就是你的头衔带给你的权力或者正式职权。但是如果你在担任老板时，以这种错误观点作为指导，那么，你可能无法成为你希望扮演的，你需要扮演的，抑或是你本来可以扮演好的那个角色。

    在施加影响时，权力与威望是一种有缺陷的工具，我们在上文提到的研究，便是最新证据。而其他证据显示，那些只看到自身权力的人，往往将他人视作没有思想的“物件”，他们不喜欢接受别人的观点，对他人存在刻板印象，并且由于他们过于注重目标，因此只是将其他人视为达到目的的途径。简而言之，如果你倾向于“我是老板！”的管理方式，那你可能会贬低其他人的价值。因此，要想获得下属的认同，并充分挖掘他们的潜力，这并不是一种有效的方式。

    但是，如果依靠正式职权并不能最有效地影响其他人，那么，什么才是最佳方式呢？

    影响的基础在于信任，而不是压制——即人们对你有信心，相信你会做正确的事。从根本上来说，即便是威望，也是以信任为基础的。

    人们对你的信任包括两个主要部分：对你的能力的信心，和对你的性格的信任。只要人们认为你知道该做什么和如何做好，人们便会相信你能够胜任。他们不期望你学识渊博。你不可能掌握每个下属工作的技术层面。但你应该十分清楚如何制定明智的决策，做出正确的判断，合理把握轻重缓急，带领企业向前迈进。

    如果人们对于你的意愿、价值与标准，你的关注重心，以及你的情感成熟度有足够的理解和信心，他们就会信任你的个性。如果人们不了解你，或者对你没有信心，仅有能力并不能让你走得更远。

    威望与权力并不能激发人们的关注与认同，但信任却能够做到。团队的关注与认同则是干好工作的必要条件。如果人们不信任你，无论你做什么或者说什么都无济于事。要成为一名高效的经理人和企业领袖，首先要让人们信任你的能力和性格。

    毫无疑问，在某些情况下，依然需要采取“我是老板！”的领导方式，尤其是身处危机当中，此时的员工，需要一个强有力的指挥者。但大多数时间里，还是把你的权利大棒收起来吧，把它放在别人能看见的地方就足够了，最好还是少用它。

    哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）教授琳达•A•希尔与拥有30年管理经验的作家肯特•林内贝克共同撰写了《做个真正的老板：成为伟大领导者必须具备的三个特质》（Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader）。

    Most people think that power and authority are what make a boss fully effective. The more power, the better the boss.

    Films, popular literature, and television foster the stereotype that a good leader is one who wields power visibly and says, "I'm in charge" in word, deed, and demeanor.

    But this is not necessarily so. The latest piece of evidence to undermine this popular view comes from researchers Leigh Plunkett Tost, Francesca Gino, and Richard P. Larrick, who argue in a working paper recently published online by Harvard Business School, "...when a leader feels a heightened sense of power, he or she tends to dominate group discussions and interactions, thereby suppressing contributions from other team members and consequently decreasing team performance."

    In other words, bosses that view their jobs in terms of "I'm the boss!" tend to monopolize discussions with their staff. That both limits the time available for others to express their ideas and tells them, in effect, "your ideas are less important than mine." The outcome, of course, is fewer ideas and less innovation.

    However, power, or authority, itself isn't to blame. What matters is how the people who possess authority think of it. In our own research and experience, we've seen that many bosses think it's the key way they get others to do what needs doing. Though they seldom use the words outright, their message is unmistakable: "Do what I say because I'm the boss. I'm in charge."

    Consider this in the context of what bosses – managers and leaders – actually do. A boss is someone responsible for the performance of others. She fulfills that responsibility by influencing others -- by shaping and making a difference in others' actions, thoughts, and feelings -- in ways that make them more productive individually and as a group.

    A manager's core task is to influence others. But what is the most effective way to do that?

    Conventional wisdom may suggest that your key tool of influence is the power or formal authority that comes with your title. But if you base your efforts as a boss on that false wisdom, you're likely to be less effective than you want to be, need to be, and could be.

    The research we mentioned above is only the latest evidence that power and authority are flawed tools of influence. Other evidence shows that those who focus on their own power tend to treat others as objects, to be less open to others' points of view, to stereotype others, and to be so goal-oriented that they see others only as means to an end. In short, if you tend to focus on "I'm the boss!" you're more likely to devalue others and what they have to offer. Not a great way to build commitment and elicit the best efforts of those who work for you.

    But if relying on your formal authority isn't the best way to influence others, what is?

    All sources of influence, other than coercion, are built on trust -- the confidence people have that you will do the right thing. Even authority ultimately depends on trust.

    People's trust in you consists of two key components: their belief in your competence and their faith in your character. People believe you're competent when they think you know what to do and how to do it. They don't expect you to be the most knowledgeable. It's not possible for you to keep up with the technical side of everyone's work. But you need to know enough to make good decisions, exercise sound judgment, set proper priorities, and move work forward.

    People believe in your character when they understand and have confidence in your intentions, your values and standards, what you truly care about, and your emotional maturity. Competence alone won't get you far if people don't know or have confidence in you.

    Authority and power won't elicit from people the care and commitment that good work demands. Trust will. If people don't trust you, almost nothing else you do or say will matter. Being an effective manager and leader begins with people's belief in your competence and character.

    No doubt, an "I'm the boss!" approach is called for in certain situations, usually in times of crisis when people need a strong, directive voice. Most of the time, though, your club of power and authority is best kept on the shelf, where it's visible but seldom used.

    Linda A. Hill, a professor at Harvard Business School, and Kent Lineback, a writer with 30 years of management experience, are co-authors of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader.