Do Nothing!

The lesson is rather: make the organization work. If you do not have to do anything, your processes work and you have good people as leaders.

Here a shameless copy from the web-site “Management Today” by Nigel Nicholson, retrieved on Nov 17th 2013:
“… The point this book makes is that you need great teamwork, smart professionals and good systems, so the leader knows that the show doesn’t rely solely on him or her.
The book has a number of clear lessons. Having convincingly made the case for less is more and the value of teamwork, the author moves to what I call ‘decentring’ – the art of seeing through the eyes of followers and others – which he calls ‘Focus on Them’. Murnighan then proceeds to ‘Start at the End’, which is an extension of his very sensible Leadership Law: ‘Think of the reaction that you want first, then determine the actions you can take to maximise the chances that those reactions will actually happen.’ This is otherwise known as backward induction.
‘Trust More’ is the title of chapter four, which like many others draws on a wealth of experimental social psychology to reinforce the idea that trust is a virtuous circle. Chapter five is ‘Release Control (Deviously)’, which is the method of engaging people, hearing their voices, and generating productive exchanges. In one passage, he illustrates how cardiac surgery teams deal with non-standard inputs, and how confidence springs from this kind of distributed leadership.
The chapter ‘Bear Down Warmly’ is about love really – and respect. Love for what you do and the concerns of your people, and your ability to reach out to them as a facilitator and orchestrator rather than as the stand-up boss.
‘Ignore Performance Goals’ is again somewhat of an overstatement, for Murnighan demurs by saying, well of course these goals can be helpful, but what really matters are learning goals. At root this chapter is about self-improvement. It is about separating acts from the values that attach to them and being dispassionate enough to learn with the help of others from what you do, including from your mistakes.
The last of his seven key ideas is ‘De-emphasise Profits’, which is a hymn to our troubled times and quite palatable after we’ve seen how attention to the bottom line is fatal when it neglects the top line. He is surely right that it is value creation rather than profit maximisation that marks out the leadership we need today.
The book concludes with seven profiles of what he calls ‘Unnatural Leaders’. The mix is interesting and includes unknown local leaders, high-profile personalities, such as Oprah Winfrey, business entrepreneurs and people from the arts. Each exemplifies many of the themes that have recurred throughout the book. Yet it’s hard to see any strong thread running through them, other than they all deserve our positive regard.