Redundancy
Letting go for progress
Among our daily news cycles we'll see stories around corporate hardship with headlines including the terms 'cut backs', 'jobs axed', and 'mass redundancies'. This is scary stuff. Recently, Evans Cycles in the UK made 300 jobs no longer. Telstra, Australia's major telecommunications company, announced 1400 planned redundancies last month (off the back of 6900 cut pre-pandemic). Budget cuts to the BBC and ABC have forced change management restructures erasing levels of middle management as well as the most senior of management positions. No one is safe. As I said, scary stuff.
These numbers in headlines are as shocking as they are real - real people, every single one of them. People with mortgages, children to school and feed, and ego's that take a battering causing all sorts of mental health challenges. No wonder we are shit-scared of the word redundancy. And, even though I grew up in the recessions of the 80's and 90's in Australia and lived in London through the initial years of Austerity following the global financial crisis (GFC), there is no doubt that the current global economic environment is supremely challenging across industry.
So how is it that redundancy can be used as tool for performance. How can it be used by leaders to build profitable systematically progressive business units? It is something I have been honing in on as an answer to one of the most common challenges I hear from people in leadership - the lack of autonomy and critical thinking leaders witness in their people. The inability for team members to problem solve through situations on their own steam and take responsibility for tasks within their remit. The answer to overcoming this includes making yourself redundant (cue shivers-down-the-spine...)
By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.
- Lao Tzu
During a coaching session with a client of mine we made up our own first principals of a leader's responsibilities (or what they are charged with doing). We decided on the following three things:
Achieve results
Achieve those results through other people
Increase the capacity of the team
I am not saying this everything or perfect, but it does speak to the practical goals of a leader, how they will achieve them, and how they will impact the wider business for now as well for the future. By definition this points to the reality that the leader cannot and will not get results through doing the work themselves. They are the support mechanism, the mouth piece, the mentor, and the chief decision maker of the group. They are also the chief fixer when things get messy (meaning they have to be free and available for when these times arise). But they do not do the work. They do not do the work for their team. They do not have all the answers. Instead, they are managing a process of continuous improvement where the scoreboard is being maintained as best as possible (results) while the underlying strength and ability of the people are being strengthened. The end-game here is to assist the team to the point of not needing you. If you go on holiday, break an arm, or are not contactable for a length of time they are able to do the work, problem solve, and navigate dynamic challenges unassisted by you.
For me, this is the pinnacle of team leadership (or close to it). The beautiful thing about this type of redundancy is that it is happening on your watch and done with purpose. It lifts your profile and reflects your value and ability as a leader. In my experience only opportunities come from such accomplishments and not the unemployment queue.
