如何打破职场壁垒，释放员工潜能

    任何一位领导者首先需要知道的最重要的一条真理是：任何公司内工作的人都有无限的潜力。他们能够解决任何问题，应对任何无法预测的情况。

    可目前的问题在于：因为一些自我强加的条条框框，大多数公司无法挖掘员工的潜力。要释放员工的潜力，就意味着要挑战我们对于工作的许多想当然的观点：比如等级制度的不可否认性，在办公室投入时间的重要性，半年一次的员工评估，重视客户的声音而忽视员工的意见，以及为了维持级别而对关键信息采取保密措施等等。

    要挖掘员工的才能，公司和领导人必须努力打破三个常见的壁垒。首先是依托于职位的管理，也就是说，沟通和协作受到资历的限制。一位刚入门的底层员工怎么可能与资深管理者或者高管交流呢？其次是与部门和职能有关。营销部门、销售部门、产品开发部门都仅限于内部交流，信息和潜在的创新机遇都被限制在各自的部门内部。再次就是地域壁垒——一间办公室或一个地方的员工往往忽视在别处工作的同事。

    要想跳出这些限制沟通、贡献和协作的坚固、有害的藩篱，需要进行以下三个方面的改变：

    从管理者转变为领导者

    打破藩篱与执行方向无关，而是要重新思考管理，从告诉人们做什么，转变成让人们发自内心地想要去做某件事。我们不需要增加管理者的人数，我们需要的是更多领导者。如今，任何员工都有可能成为我们所需要的领导者。但大多数公司的做法是引进更多的管理者，监督员工的工作，然后再引进其他人去管理下一级的管理人员。当然，这种做法的最终目的是更牢固地掌控公司，加强对所有人的控制。

    管理最初的目标就是保证所有员工准时到公司，完成工作，不要问问题，也不要引起麻烦，然后下班回家，如此循环往复。那时管理的重点并不是创新、员工的声音、积极性或创造力。一百年前是如此，到今天在许多公司依然如此。所以，在公司各个方面培养领导能力变得至关重要。

    领导者应该勇于挑战围绕管理的常见问题，为员工提供指导，帮助他们取得成功。领导者之所以有人追随，并不是因为他们是发号施令的人，而是因为他们用自己的行为赢得了追随者的信任。

    从“须知”转变为协同技术

    如今种类繁多的协同技术使员工可以随时随地在任何设备上彼此沟通和共享信息。许多领导者将新科技的入侵看成是必须解决的问题，但最高效的领导者却会大胆支持任何能够帮助员工交流的工具。在加州的员工需要很容易找到身处北京的同事。新员工应该有便利的途径与公司高管进行交流，就算他们可能尚未谋面。

    协同技术对于培养领导者也至关重要。在新时代的职场中，领导者需要自己脱颖而出。他们公开分享自己的理念、观点和反馈，吸引公司内的追随者。任何人都可以成为思想领袖或者某一个方面的专家。

    The first and most important truth any leader must understand is that the human beings who work inside every kind of organization possess unlimited potential. They have the ability to solve any problem and to respond to unforeseen circumstances.

    The problem: most organizations today are unable to tap into that limitless human potential because of a series of self-imposed boundaries. Unlocking this potential means challenging the many assumptions that we have about work today: the incontestability of hierarchy, the importance of putting in time in the office, semi-annual employee reviews, valuing the voice of the customer but not of the employee, and the restriction of vital information to preserve rank.

    Organizations and their leaders must strive to break three common boundaries to unleash all of the talent and contribution lying in wait. The first is role-based: communication and collaboration is restricted by seniority level. How could a lowly entry-level employee possibly engage with a senior manager or worse… an executive! The second type of boundary is around departments and function. Marketing folks stick with their peers in marketing, sales with sales, product development with product development, and information and potential opportunities for innovation remain stuck within silos. The third most common type of boundary is geographic -- employees in one office or location simply don't "see" their peers in another.

    Escaping these persistent and pernicious boundaries to communication, contribution, and collaboration requires three key shifts:

    From management to leadership

    Lifting boundaries isn't a matter of executive direction. It's about re-thinking management and shifting perspective from telling people what to do to getting them excited to want to do it. We don't need more managers, we need more leaders. Today, any employee can become that leader. Yet the norm in most organizations is to bring in more and more managers to oversee people and then more managers to look after those managers. The goal of all of this, of course, is to get a tighter grip on the organization, to enforce control.

    The original goal of management was simply to make sure that employees showed up to work on time to do their tasks, to not ask questions, to not cause problems, and then to leave and do that over and over again. Management wasn't focused on innovation, the voice of the employee, engagement, or creativity. That was the case 100 years ago, and it's still the case at too many organizations today. This is why it's so crucial to create the capacity for leadership in every aspect of the business.

    The leader challenges common assumptions around management and mentors employees to help them become successful. The leader has followers not because he commands them, but because he has earned them.

    From "need-to-know" to collaborative technologies

    The range of collaborative technologies available today allows employees to connect with each other and with information at any time, anywhere, and on just about any device. While many leaders look at the onslaught of new tech as a problem to be solved, the most effective leaders today aggressively support any tools that enable employees to connect. It needs to be easy for an employee in California to find a co-worker in Beijing. It needs to be easy for an entry-level employee to start a dialogue with an executive, even though they may have never met face to face.

    Collaborative technologies are also crucial in developing leaders. In the new world of work, leaders create themselves. They share their ideas, content, and feedback in a public way, which attracts followers within the organization. Anyone can become a thought leader or subject matter expert.