Page 195 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

WHAT CHALLENGES INTEREST ME? (PERSONALIZED CONTRIBUTIONS)

like to come to the office, spend time in meetings, or take
global assignments will have employees who do not. When
the leader adapts to the employees’ preferred work setting,
the chances for abundance increase. Of course, every job
has certain parameters, and these are not always flexible.
Periodically people tell Dave they would love his consulting
job but would want to do it without all the travel. A con-
sultant who doesn’t travel is like a doctor who doesn’t see
patients. But the parameters of work are not always as fixed
as they appear: not many doctors make house calls these
days, but this used to be expected.

Work Condition 3: How Do I Work?

It is difficult if not impossible to synthesize volumes of theory
and research on the nature of work into a few key principles,
but let’s try. We see four dimensions of how work is done that
may help leaders create more abundance for their employ-
ees: innovation, autonomy, opportunity, and visibility. 3

Innovation. Work may vary along a continuum of routine
(similar work repeated over and over) to creative (doing a
variety of work tasks that require innovation). Some jobs lend
themselves to one extreme or the other. For example, air
traffic controllers need more discipline than creativity (no
one really cares if an air traffic controller can land a plane
looking in a mirror between his legs). On the other hand,
creative writers or product designers would not last long if
unable to define and pursue blue sky opportunities. While
some individuals are predisposed to and interested only in
either creative or routine jobs, most are in between. Good
leaders both tap employees’ creative energies and help them
settle in comfortably to more routine aspects of work.

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