Catherine the Great, CEO by Alan Axelrod

Author:Alan Axelrod
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Sterling
Published: 2013-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

Lesson 70

Get Input—without Relinquishing Control

“[The Legislative Commission] appears to me in the light of a scaffolding to be removed of course when the Empress has completed the noble edifice She has planned, a code of laws upon her own principles, but in the manner most consistent with the true interest and the inclination of all her subjects.”

~British ambassador, on the work of the Legislative Commission, December 1767, quoted in John T. Alexander, Catherine the Great: Life and Legend

After publishing her Great Instruction, the monumental revision of Russian law, Catherine took another momentous step in creating a “Legislative Commission” made up of representatives from all classes of the Russian people—nobles, townsmen, and peasants alike—to provide detailed input on creating specific laws. As the British ambassador to the Russian imperial court observed, however, this manifestation of representative government was a kind of “scaffolding” to be removed once the appropriate set of laws, created according to Catherine’s principles, were in place.

Catherine wanted to hear from her subjects. As the ambassador observed, she was earnest in her intention of serving “the true interest and inclination of all her subjects,” Nevertheless, she wanted to do so without conceding ultimate control of the government to any representative institution. If she was establishing a precedent of representative government, she took care to establish it as a precedent for temporary representation rather than as a permanent feature of her reign.

Some managers resist seeking input from the members of their team out of fear that doing so will force them to relinquish some degree of their autonomous authority. In fact, it is perfectly possible—and quite advantageous—to solicit input and feedback from “the troops” without transforming your management authority into leadership by consensus. The best decisions are made on the basis of the best information. The more input you obtain from all stakeholders, the more complete basis you establish from which to make the best leadership decisions possible. But, in order to avoid interminable delays resulting from the conflicts of interest between stakeholders, you must remain the one who makes those decisions.

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