Todd Ordal uses sheep dogs nipping at heels as a poor example of leadership. Sheep require constant nipping, he says. And the only people who’ll work for a Border Collie for an extended period are sheep!
Running to-and-fro and nipping at heels (OK, barking orders) creates a lot of movement, but it’s mostly wasted movement. And the moment the barking stops, all hell breaks loose.” – Todd Ordal
Source: Applied Strategy, April 5, 2021. Link.
INSIGHTS: Ordal’s metaphor is a simple, direct depiction of micromanagers. He’s right when he says the hard thing is that you can’t just stop nipping at heels! You trained your herd to be compliant but, not to take initiative and be autonomous. The sheep must be re- trained or replaced with initiative-taking animals.