I’m forever thankful to Adobe. I spent eleven fantastic years when the company transitioned from a niche technology provider for graphics professionals to the giant digital experiences enabler it has become.
My many roles at Adobe have been transformational, but one, in particular, helped shape my leadership philosophy.
In 1999, I was then the Senior Director of Adobe’s EMEA marketing. Yet, none of the regional marketing leaders were directly reporting to me.
It was my first experience in a long series as a so-called “dotted-line” leader. It helped shape how I’d lead for years to come with increasing responsibilities and still relatively few people in my “organization” chart.
Some managers hate these matrix organizations, as they feel their power is constantly undermined, the roles unclear, the decisions too slow, and conflicts abound.
I beg to differ. And the biggest reason is that I have never thought about full reporting lines vs. dotted lines.
I’ve seen success when we could establish a joint management effort between two leaders. One focuses on the employee’s capabilities, and the other on her value-creation.
Interestingly, this maps nicely with critical findings of a recent book on CEO Excellence from McKinsey’s Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra.
The authors used empirical data to identify top-performing CEOs and then conducted in-depth interviews to capture their mindsets better.
They found that successful leaders know how to enable clear, equal, and parallel lines of accountability in a “matrix organization” situation.
To quote it:
“The capabilities leader has the power to hire or fire and provides the training, tools, and professional development to keep the employee’s career on track.
The value-creation leader sets the employee’s individual goals and objectives and oversees their day-to-day work”.
Adopting and sharing this mindset with other leaders helped us clarify and address the inherent challenges of such “matrix organizations.”
It didn’t go without pain, and I also had to remind myself of evident – yet often difficult-to-apply – principles constantly:
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- I made a point always to set clear goals and objectives to help keep everyone focused and motivated.
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- I ensured I communicated clearly and consistently these expectations, goals, and priorities with everyone in the “team” independently of where they belonged on the organization chart.
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- I constantly sought feedback from everyone on the team, demonstrating genuine intent to course-correct our actions if need be.
I later led more complex efforts across many functional areas and with full P&L (Profit & Loss) accountability. I found this mindset extremely powerful.
So, don’t be afraid of leading in such “matrix organizations.” They can unlock top performance and collaboration across all functions.
But make sure you and the other matrix leaders adopt this new mindset about capabilities and value-creation. It will go a long way on your path to success.