Leader as shock absorber(edbatista.com)
edbatista.com
Leader as shock absorber
https://www.edbatista.com/2022/10/leader-as-shock-absorber.html
6 comments
Customer-facing people, more generally. And I think this codifies why the google-style customer service is so jarring: the “shock” is just a loose spring which easily bottoms out its travel: before it hits the limit, no feedback from outside the system can travel into the system; and after it hits the limit, the feedback is largely limited to giving up and going somewhere else.
Great post (also length-wise). Mediating forces between the organisation and the team is a major function of management which many managers lack, especially project managers. It requires foresight and planning and as the article states "a shock absorber pushes back--in both directions".
LinkedIn.com type content, in my opinion.
Then analogy breaks down in the face of macroeconomic conditions? The shock absorber simply acts as a router/switch in these situations. Or acts as a large hadron collider fusing market conditions and employees to creat free energy that they store/pocket.
Work is continuous and pay is discrete. At the very least a leader runs a company that pays for continuous labor with discrete paychecks in the hopes of seeing discrete revenue events (selling a cup of coffee, signing up a new subscriber). Even reduced to absurdity I think the analogy holds up pretty well.
> The shock absorber simply acts as a router
Force absorption requires space and resources to manoeuvre, a condition of austerity is a lack of space and resources, so I agree to that extent with your comment. The author talks about "leaders" though - leadership (giving direction, inspiration, solving big problems) is complementary to management (administration, communication, task allocation). Especially in tough times it's leaders who make the difference. The author says that "shock absorbers push back in both directions" - a leader will find new opportunities of optimising work by involving both the team and the organisation.
Force absorption requires space and resources to manoeuvre, a condition of austerity is a lack of space and resources, so I agree to that extent with your comment. The author talks about "leaders" though - leadership (giving direction, inspiration, solving big problems) is complementary to management (administration, communication, task allocation). Especially in tough times it's leaders who make the difference. The author says that "shock absorbers push back in both directions" - a leader will find new opportunities of optimising work by involving both the team and the organisation.