The Three Levels of Dependency

Do you feel trapped in firefighting mode – constantly solving problems?

Do you feel like a bottleneck, having decisions pile up on your desk?

Or do you feel like a flashlight: people only move forward when you point the way?

The Firefighter, Bottleneck, and Flashlight represent three levels of dependency that put an artificial limit on your success.

Dependency occurs when your employees feel the need to seek permission. They depend on you for actions that creative, resourceful, and capable employees should be able to do on their own, such as problem-solving, decision-making, and innovation. In short, they are outsourcing these functions to you.

Doing so keeps you tied down in yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and prevents you from designing the future.

Problem-solving dependency occurs when your employees rely on you to fix what’s broken. Their mindset: “I don’t know what to do.” You become the company’s firefighter. The challenge is that you can never get ahead. You get stuck in the past. Problem-solving, after all, is dealing with what just broke. When you live in the past, you mortgage the present and future.

Early McDonald’s was a classic example, as employees escalated problems up the chain rather than resolving them at the lowest appropriate level. Standardization, Hamburger University, and leadership development were vital in moving McDonald’s from dependency to growth.

Decision-making dependency occurs when your employees outsource thinking to you. Their mindset is “I need your approval” or “What should I do now?” You become the bottleneck as requests for approval or resolution stack on your desk and inbox. The good news is that your employees are fixing what breaks. The challenge is that you are stuck in the present, without the bandwidth to innovate or create the future. Delays stack up.

Many founders find themselves here, wanting to maintain control, and end up owning a job rather than a business and having a life.

Innovation dependency means that people seek your permission to improve products, services, processes, and culture. Their mindset is, “It’s not my place” to suggest. You become the flashlight, the creator of new ideas. People will move forward where you shine the light, but otherwise sit in the dark waiting for you to decide what tomorrow’s improvements will be. Missed opportunities become the challenge as everyone waits for your decree about what’s next. In some ways, Apple suffered from this problem as everyone relied on Steve Jobs’ intuition. What’s Apple’s next big thing?

You get to the very top when employees feel a sense of ownership over the future. They have disciplined initiative, which means they solve problems, make decisions, and innovate in ways that advance your common good (mission, vision, standards) without creating chaos. You are the architect, designing the company where employees solve problems, make decisions, and create new ideas without waiting for permission.

Toyota is a superb example. The company is not dependent on a single genius. The leaders designed the culture to continuously generate problem-solving, decision-making, and innovation from thousands of people acting with disciplined initiative.

Where is your company? What would getting to the dark-green level do for you and your business?

Fortunately, the path upward is simple and straightforward with the 3-Discipline Leadership System™. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is doable for us mortals.

When you’re ready to discuss where you are now and the action steps needed to move, accept your free consultation and book a call here.

About Author

Chris Kolenda

I work with leaders who want to build unshakeable business endurance.

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