Queenly Managment

When I first saw that Bob Rosner of ABC News was trying to draw parallels between Queen Elizabeth II and run-of-the-mill managers, I balked. (Well, I sneered.) But his article actually makes some good points about management that can be drawn from the movie The Queen, an account of Britain's royal family in the days following the death of Princess Diana. So, all you managers out there:

What does this have to do with managing? Many of us are like the queen. We think we understand what is in the minds of our people. But we are often woefully out of touch with what they really think or feel about work.

Don't believe me? Think about the last time you were in a meeting when someone offered a criticism they'd heard from the rank and file. What happened? Chances are that someone said it just came from a chronic complainer … or that the critic didn't really understand the reason for the new initiative … or some other excuse was raised to discredit the criticism.

Watch this movie, but don't think about the queen. Think about all your queenlike tendencies and all the beliefs that you hold much too tightly where you work.

Management Lessons From 'The Queen' [ABC News]