In looking at the great leaders of history—whether they are political leaders like Julius Caesar or business leaders like Steven P. Jobs—many people probably assume they must have taken a particularly active role in running their organizations.
Caesar, after all, personally led his troops into Gaul, and Jobs was famous for checking the design of even the smallest inner workings of every product at Apple.
But J. Keith Murnighan (one of my heroes who taught management and organizations at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management), says that is not the best way to manage an organization.
In his last book Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader, Murnighan contends the most successful leaders delegate virtually all the regular work to their staff, freeing their own time so that they can facilitate and orchestrate everyone else’s performance. Not only will this improve morale, but it will also result in a better product and a less stressful life for the leader.
NOTE: Murnighan passed away recently. In addition to the wisdom and kindness he imparted to so many students, Murnighan leaves behind a truly inspired body of research and ideas.
Over the years, a key lesson Murnighan has taught has been that “decision-making, negotiations, and team-building skills really are the essence of leadership.” He took it a step further, following this idea to logical extremes. “And the logical extreme of building a team of trusted employees and focusing on the big picture is that leaders should “do nothing” when it comes to everyday functioning.”
He often asked his students: “What would it be like if all of your team members were living up to their potential? That gets big smiles from everyone. Then I say, ‘Why don’t you just help them do that? All you have to do is orchestrate a bit and facilitate.’ ”
