Guide Teams through Success by Balancing Direction and Flexibility
By Joseph Folkman, HBR 2022/05
In the world of leadership, finding the right balance between directive control and empowerment is crucial. This article explores the optimal blend of push and pull strategies, two leadership approaches that can significantly impact team performance and satisfaction.
Push leadership, as defined, involves setting deadlines and tasks with minimal input from the team, directing the workload and expectations. While efficient for urgent or well-defined tasks, overuse can lead to resistance or burnout. On the other hand, pull leadership emphasizes empowering team members by involving them in decision-making, fostering accountability, and motivating through collaboration. This approach encourages buy-in and sustained motivation but may be slower in urgent situations.
Striking the right balance is essential. Kevin Torf, in his experience managing large projects, found that authoritarian push methods can produce results, but empowering teams with a pull approach yields better relationships, collaboration, and motivation. The pull approach creates ownership and encourages people to work from their own sense of accountability rather than coercion. However, push strategies can be necessary to set clear deadlines or when decisive action is required.
So, how does a leader determine when to use each strategy? Assessing the task and urgency, evaluating team capability and motivation, observing team dynamics and feedback, using structure and communication, and adapting as the organization grows are all crucial factors to consider.
Starting with clear goals and open dialogue, leaders should understand the team's capacity and preferences. Pull strategies can empower and coach, fostering accountability while providing support. Push strategies should be applied selectively to meet critical deadlines or ensure accountability.
Leaders should maintain flexibility and empathy, adapting their approach based on ongoing feedback and results. The key is to continuously assess situational needs and the team's state, choosing the approach that best fosters effective teamwork and sustainable performance.
Research indicates that high push and low pull strategies lead to increased work satisfaction but not confidence. Conversely, when both push and pull are low, the confidence and satisfaction of team members are also low. The article does not discuss the successful implementation of agile strategies or the implications of a higher rate of urgency or the challenges faced by leaders in changing environments.
In summary, the optimal balance is dynamic—leaders succeed by blending push and pull techniques thoughtfully, pushing when direction and urgency are needed, and pulling to inspire accountability, creativity, and engagement. The ability to use the push strategy when required should not be lost by increasing empathy. Leaders should consider what the team needs—the push or the pull strategy and a mix of both—to achieve optimal results.
In the realm of business leadership, determining when to utilize push strategies, such as setting clear deadlines, and when to employ pull strategies, fostering team empowerment and collaboration, is crucial for balancing efficiency and team satisfaction. Effective leaders should stay adaptable while assessing factors like task urgency, team capability, and preferences to blend these approaches for optimal results. A dynamic balance of push and pull strategies can lead to increased work satisfaction and confidence among team members, ensuring both accountability and creativity in a continuously evolving business landscape.
