That Old (Tired) “Do More With Less” Chestnut

Today I saw a post (from Leadership First – see here) which reminded me of this all too common phrase; you’ll just have to do more with less. We’ve all heard it and, depending upon your particular sphere of work, we have also been expected to swallow the phrase without any question, and get on with our jobs. Sometimes we just need to “suck it up” because – “unfortunately” – “our hands are tied” – due the declining resource availability. “It’s out of our control” says the manager or leader, who’s probably also – at least partly – responsible for the missmanaged decline in the first place. At the very least, many will probably have failed by not offering any meaningful challenges to that assumption.

Is it any wonder that an increasing number of people, within many workforces – are totally pissed off, and becoming ever more unproductive, within their organisations. They’ve had their enthusiasm knocked out of them.

However, when do leadership expectations – about continually ‘flogging a willing horse’ – actually become unviable? I would argue that it is totally unacceptable to assume that any employee will always be willing to “go the extra mile” in the first place; but many do, they’re just not valued. Too many leaders and managers are still content to weild their proverbial stick, becausee they believe it is a far mightier tool than any infrequent carrots, so they apply it with vigour and with impunity in any case. It’s how they ‘incentivise’ their staff.

So it should hardly be a surprise that so many of the most highly skilled people – and often those who are the most loyal and constantly the most productive people within our teams – are the ones who are actually bailing ship today, and in ever increasing numbers? Start to recognise that fact as a manager or leader and you can start to repair your problems.

Remember – You reep what you sow!