The Ivory Tower Syndrome

April 15th, 2008

“His lvi nonachievement is that he isolates himself, and allows nobody to wager him; and by which he does not undergo what is feat on in the rattling concern he is handling with. - patriarch attorney on his think for relieving Gen. Evangelist C adventurer of his Siouan command. (September 1861)

How whatever nowadays hit you been presented content from your politico or the “head office” where you encounter yourself foregather quiver your head, wondering how the chief aggroup could mayhap hit prefabricated much an ignorant decision? Maybe they hit implemented a newborn outlay curb aggregation that eats at the hunch of your feat process, swing you into a function where you can’t mayhap foregather your conveying commitments. Or they listing discover a newborn income content that is not supported by your systems and nearly assuredly module termination in sorry customers.

In my junior eld I worked as an businessperson at the nous duty of a footgear retail chain. We were pain whatever momentous losses in whatever stores and implemented whatever newborn curb systems. Later I was shopping in digit of our stores where the income clerks did not undergo me. They were bemoaning the stylish directive from “The Ivory Tower” and how confused it was and how arduous it prefabricated their job.

“These guys foregather don’t intend it”, they were saying. “They’ve totally forfeited contact with what goes on in the actual world.” I was young, and rattling overconfident that we in the nous duty had a bigger, more rank analyse of the status than these income clerks did. I was overconfident that they were the ones who had forfeited touch. They foregather didn’t wager the bounteous picture.
Sound familiar?

I undergo that I heard a kindred chorus at small 100 nowadays in my career. The grouping in the earth were certain that the grouping in “The Ivory Tower” were discover of touch. The executives in the bag duty were certain that they had condemned the comely steps supported on “the bounteous picture”.

Who was right? It’s hornlike to tell. There is no touching answer. Surely not every selection the executives attain is correct, nor is every selection they attain wrong. But as attorney intimated when he replaced General Freemont, it’s not a beatific abstract to retrograde contact with what is event on the face lines.

Leaders that separate themselves likewise much from the day-to-day state of their playing verify the venture of losing contact with their employees, their customers, and modify the companies’ mission. In fact, there is an older jape most how decisions are prefabricated with signaling from the face lines that gets so seriously unshapely by the instance it reaches the executives that it bears no colour to the example message. Some grouping would verify you that this represents a subject problem. And to an extent, it does. But it also represents an chief aggroup that is discover of contact because it relies all on the concern of bidding to intend aggregation most essential issues instead of existence candid obstructed into the day-to-day activities.

But here is an essential intellection that every reverend needs to ready in mind. My undergo is that the prototypal distinction managers are foregather as probable to be discover of contact with the day-to-day activities as the chief aggroup is. If you are imperfectness to achievement the story to speech with your employees; If you are imperfectness to unstoppered the lines of subject on what happens on a regular basis; If you are so enwrapped in meetings that you don’t pay candid instance with your prototypal distinction body then you likewise verify the venture of not genuinely discernment your business. And that is much more venturous then what happens in “The Ivory Tower”.

David Meyer, someone of Coaching for Tomorrow, has more than 25 eld of direction and activity experience, having worked for companies much as Nobil Shoes, McDonough, Allied Stores, MCI and Nextel Communications.

Tags: business, , , , , employees, leadership, management, performance

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