“Win the War Against Transactional Management”

It is the end of the world as we know it at work.  If we are not changing and adapting we are getting left behind.  Today’s employee is different in so many fascinating ways.  Today’s employee wants to belong to something special - a tribe at work.  Seth Godin legitimized our tribal tendencies in his book “Tribes – 2008”.  Today our tendency to form tribes has been enhanced by social media and a strong desire to remain connected to each other at all times.  This morning I walked into a fast food chain to order a breakfast sandwich.  The store was relatively empty as I was between the breakfast and lunch rush.  I walked into the restroom (the door was propped open) and a store employee was standing by the door interacting on his mobile phone.  When I walked up to the counter, another employee was texting on her mobile phone below the cash register as she began to take my order.  These two young people belong to several tribes.  Electronic tribes through social media are no less important in the moment than family and work tribes at other times.  More than likely this well-known food chain has policies that prohibit such actions, yet these two were both willing to risk trouble in order to remain connected to their tribes.

Sharing a common interest and the ability to communicate are the new building blocks for today’s tribe.  Social media is the accelerant in the technology-centered world we all occupy today.  Successful leaders will leverage these connections to build tribes in the workplace.  Gone are the days of loyalty based on the simple transaction of business.  A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work is a wonderful concept. However, it will no longer be a primary desire for remaining in one place to work.  When it comes to talent retention, sticky companies will build strong tribes at work.

Transactional managers will become extinct in the near future.  Making business decisions solely based on the transaction rather than the common interest of the tribe will place a management team on the endangered species list.  A business transaction rarely has an emotional connect point for employees.  Without this connection, there is no tribe.  They can make the same transaction with other companies.  Transactional management lacks ahuman connection in a world where humans desire to be connected constantly.  Business decisions that look good on paper can be disastrous to the tribes.  In today’s reality, sound business decisions must be vetted by the impact they have on the tribes.  A decision that saves a company some money may cause destruction to the tribes that have been built over time.  The distinction between a leader and manager will become critical now more than ever.

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