My arm hurts? Make it stop. Cut it off!

Do you know when you have crossed the Rubicon between leading and managing? If you issue a directive that controls behavior rather than specifies a target then you have made the crossing. If your focus is anywhere lower than your direct reports (who probably have responsibility for their own direct reports)then you have made the crossing.

You have a vision, a mission or just a goal for your organization? You believe that you need a group of people working together to get ‘there’? You invest time and resources in building buy-in? See where you get with just a single ‘harmless management decision’. Goodbye credibility.