“A manager’s overriding issue should be to establish the right. . .”

“A manager’s overriding issue should be to establish the right strategy and make sure that others understand how their jobs, objectives, and rewards relate to the strategy. For people to focus their attention on critical tasks, make effective decisions, concentrate resources, and to maintain and aspire to high standards, they need clear direction. To ensure that the strategy is the right one, a directive leader would press hard for an open, vigorous debate of the economic logic underlying the rationalization proposal. This discussion would illuminate the need for the change and would elicit ideas of how the plan might be modified and improved. Goals cannot be truly shared if they are not understood—and understanding comes from clarity in their expression and specificity about the underlying economic logic. Through forceful action, directive managers ultimately create a consensus in support of goals.”