Leaders Inspire Creative Thinking - Managers Make Rules and Policies

I found the quote “Rules and policies are created to help make jobs easier” in a book about leadership. Clearly the author does not understand what differentiates leadership from management; To protect their ego, I left the name of the author out.

Rules and policies are the tools of management to protect the organization. They set out lines that are not to be crossed. Rules and policies are necessary for organizations to operate and protect employees from harm, each other, and potential criminal and civil penalties for violating state and federal laws. If you need to know how to request time off you “follow the policy”. If you need to fix a widget you follow the “procedure”.  You follow the rules or you pay the consequences. This is about management, period.

The reason why everyone encourages out of the box thinking is it shows leadership through courage and a willingness to break the rules. . Leadership is about freeing people to innovate and use their energies to be greater than they thought possible. Management, on the hand, tries to quell out of the box thinking because of the loose of control. Management is used to rein employees in and keep them following the rules.   Companies that have high performance cultures cleverly integrate management and leadership techniques to create synergy and take their organizations to the next level.

History is filled with organizations that once were innovative and on the cutting edge of technology for that day. Leaders lead and people dreamed of taking the company to the next level through a shared vision of what could be. As success came someone always decides we need more “rules and policies” to keep things running smoothly. Then as more rules piled on innovation was stifled and the most creative people left to start their own companies. The large management centered company then looses product share and eventually closes. Don’t lose cutting edge leadership by becoming a bureaucratic organization centered on management. If you have people who think being a good leader is setting out clear rules and policies then it is time to realize your company’s days are numbered.  

Encourage leadership that creates motivates, inspires and takes your organization to the next level of success. Never let your company be run by managers who think they are showing leadership by creating rules that stifle your employees creativity.