On the Job by Anita Bruzzese RedHat CEO Forget What You Know About Traditional Management

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese RedHat CEO Forget What You Know About Traditional Management Jim Whitehurst, CEO of RedHat, says that if he could give himself advice when he left Delta Air Lines 10 years ago to head up the largest open source software company in the world, it would be this: When youre leading high-energy, very capable people, leaders need to think of their role as creating context for others to be successful, rather than directly driving performance. In other words, butt out and let people do what they do best but help them understand why the jobs they do matter. You have to work hard to connect the meaning of what people do every day to the mission of the company, he says. For example, when Whitehurst was COO with Delta, he was charged with leading the company out of bankruptcy and restoring confidence. He began immediately by ensuring workers understood what they could do to help them save the company and their jobs: Going from last place to first place in on-time arrivals. That was something they understood, something they could control, he says. Whitehurst, who is known for his transparent leadership, says that he believes one of the biggest issues when companies are trying to keep employees engaged when growing the business is believing thatengagementis about happiness. Being happy has nothing to do with it. You must make sure people understand how their work fits into the strategy. Then, of course, theyre more likely to be happy, he says. At the same time, as companies grow and hire more workers, they still have to focus on ensuring every employee understands how his or her job has an impact on quality, cost and even customer satisfaction. Without that constant connection from leadership, employees wont have the willingness or confidenceto be innovativeor collaborative. Of course, some may argue that an open source software company has a unique environment with its focus on transparency and collaboration from inside and out. Trusting outsiders to add value? Believing that employees wont share secrets with competitors? What about non-compete agreements? Will valuable employees be poached by competitors and take valuable information with them? Whitehurst has heard those concerns before, but argues that its better to manage to 90% of those who are doing the right thing, rather than spending time trying to deal with a few bad actors. I think managers often feel like theyre police, he says. But the bad apples generally rise to the top and they leave one way or the other. What is left when those bad apples depart are loyal workers who feel passionate about what theyre doing, and there is no greater (read more here)