The peril is that you propel up expenses in the company too high and too fast. Payroll and administration begin to rise, without growth in revenues. The only way to salvage empire building is to deal with it or to deal with the empire builders.
Follow the bottlenecks and bickers
Remember, these are smart, manipulative and technically skillful individuals. They know how to maneuver from project to project and adding budget here and there. It begins with creating friction in the organisation and because they are strong in power, it is felt like nobody can touch and challenge them.
Try to be in a culture that rewards collaborative behaviour. The teamwork of the organisation is the key. There should be a competitive spirit and not competition against each other. Command-and-control leadership damages the organisation.
Territory + Resources = Power
The equation for territorial urge has been formulated for millennia; deemed to be the survival kit of businesses. Those who dominate get access to further resources. However, competition is no more about the physical survival. It is about the psychological and social survival. It could be information, relationships, status or simply attention.
It is what people need to have success. Empire building is equal to protecting territory. Meticulously, empire builders are driven by self-esteem, a belief that self-worthiness comes from money, recognition, size of the office, budget and staff. When they get the corner office, then they want the suite.
When they have five people working under them, then they need ten.On the other hand, they lack a critical ingredient in their leadership: empathy. So, they constantly want to hear good things about themselves.
Therefore, when you detect behaviours which reflect that someone wants to control everything, it would be beneficial to remind him of the company’s policies and missions statements. Otherwise, it would be wise to relieve him of his duties because if not clipped in good time, can result to lack of integrity, information hoarding, and backstabbing. Employees can also feel threatened.
The perfect design
Sometimes, organisations end up activating empire building especially when the organisation has unclear objectives, or has employees who are a misfit for leadership. The solution is to channel the organisation’s goals vividly and call out the offenders. Do question-answer sessions with them. Listen to your staff for problems and conflicts.
Identifying loopholes on where resources and engagements are being misused can help you identify the culprits, then you can confront them with evidence. Eventually, empire builders need to understand that they are seated on a time bomb. If it blows, it will destroy not only them but the organisation at large too. Performance reviews and appraisals are other approaches an organisation can take. In the end, you can highlight why a leader needs to make efficient use of resources.
Another way of moulding the empire builders is to take him a trip forward in time and ask him to review his life from the retirement years’ point of view. Most people want to feel they were respected, that these empire builders moved their organisations forward and that they innovated to the best they could.
Email: whitezone2010@yahoo.com
