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Do Nothing!

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Do Nothing!

How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader

Portfolio,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

To do your best as a manager, do nothing at all.

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Does managing or leading others have to be a chore? Not if you don’t do it, says Northwestern University management professor J. Keith Murnighan. Imagine coming back from vacation or a day of meetings to find no office crises, no emergencies and no pressing issues. Murnighan’s chatty, smart management guide – which will be particularly effective for those who are leading small groups – can be a little repetitious and a bit cloying. Even so, getAbstract recommends his manual particularly for its brevity. Murnighan makes his point about light-handed management and then he goes home, where, presumably, he can contentedly do nothing.

Summary

Do Something by Doing Nothing

When most managers confront an office challenge, their typical reaction is to work harder. But “conscientious leaders do too much.” Even nonworkaholic leaders can feel that everything their subordinates are supposed to do is still their personal responsibility. This undermines the leaders’ performance and the employees’ work. Stop doing so much and create “chances to excel” for the members of your team. Don’t do. Lead.

New managers, in particular, are tempted to step back into their old, premanagement roles and do hands-on work instead of letting their subordinates accomplish the job. Determine the skills of your team members and let the most capable person for a task handle that task. That worker may not do the job exactly as you would, but a good performance will suffice. Stand back and let that performance unfold. Be a “facilitator and an orchestrator,” and allow your employees to carry out their responsibilities and do their work. Never micromanage. Let your people perform so they can feel proud of their accomplishments.

“Trust More”

Trust your team members. Nothing else will make your job as easy. Trust your employees...

About the Author

Corporate trainer and consultant J. Keith Murnighan is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

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