What Shall We Wear? The 1930’s Kit Debate

I was on the travelator at Waterloo station, walking behind two young women. They were clearly good friends, catching up, talking jauntily, laughing giddily. I couldn’t help overhearing a segment of their conversation.

Emily: I remember you were pretty good at netball at school, Claire. Why did you give it up?

Claire: Yes, I was excellent at netball, Emily. But one day Mrs Eliot, the PE teacher, had a real go at me for not competing enough. It’s true: I was basically just hanging around on the edge of the court. But Mrs Eliot shouted out in front of everyone: ‘Claire, you’re not doing anything!’ I kept my dignity, of course, and replied: ‘Mrs Eliot, I’m performing a management role. I’ve stepped back from frontline activities.’… And that was the end of my netball career.

With this the two young women chuckled and marched off towards the Northern Line.

Claire’s anecdote poses an interesting question: how much should promoted managers withdraw from, or stay involved in, core business tasks?

'Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.'
Peter Drucker, Management Theorist

Classically speaking, when you take a step up to a management role, you must also take a step back: setting the strategy, directing teams to deliver that strategy; empowering, encouraging and inspiring.

If you remain too hands-on, you risk getting in the way, cramping people’s style. The hands-on manager can sometimes paralyse a business, suppressing initiative, reducing self-confidence. People become afraid to act without specific instruction and approval.

'It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.’
Steve Jobs, Apple

And yet, if you step too far back from the day-to-day tasks, there’s another risk. You begin to lose touch with the ever-evolving market. Your views on the competitive landscape are pickled in the past. You become a little more assumptive about how things will play out. And your credibility with your team members begins to erode. Rust never sleeps.

'This is not a business where you can hand off and run by remote control.’
David Neeleman, Breeze Airways

I once approached my shrewd boss Simon Sherwood with a proposal to take a broader, more strategic role in the Agency. I’d had my fill of troublesome Clients, tedious meetings and tiresome pitches. I wanted to apply myself to more cerebral activity.
Simon regarded me with cool-eyed detachment:

‘Always remember, Jim, if you’re not facing income, you’re entirely expendable.’

I gave up on my proposal and returned to my desk.

'My my, hey hey.
Rock and roll is here to stay.
It's better to burn out than to fade away.
My my, hey hey.
Out of the blue and into the black.
They give you this, but you pay for that.
And once you're gone you can never come back.
When you're out of the blue and into the black.
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.
This is the story of a Johnny Rotten.
It's better to burn out than it is to rust.
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.
Hey hey, my my.
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture than meets the eye
Hey hey, my my.’
Neil Young, 'My My, Hey, Hey’ (Out of the Blue)

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