Dear Ronald,
The statement that you have quoted looks absolutely nice but in training seminars or in school education. Practical scenario is quite different.
When poster raised this query, probably he meant "puppet" as "lack of empowerment of employee".
I do not know in which company you work and what is the level of empowerment in your company or how empowerment is defined in your company. However, in the course of my training activities, I have seen large number of companies wherein staffs are suffocating because of lack of empowerment.
In India that culture of empowerment is completely missing. This happens even with the companies where IITians or IIMs are at the helm or even Managing Directors. Decision making is completely centralised and there is no room for taking decisions. Bosses do not want the staffs to grow.
Very senior HR or other professionals, write many things in their blogs. However, how many have written the case studies in their blog on the empowerment in their own company?
American companies have made astounding progress because American bosses do not mind giving authority to their managers. In my leadership training several times this question came up about lack of authority. "Boss is always right" is the mantra for survival. Those who have tried to defy it have you found out what was their fate?
Classic Example: - I once conducted training programme for one healthcare company whose turnover was INR 35,00o million that time. Each participant was HOD of some department and total there were 13 participants. Of these, five where PHDs. The person at the top level of that business unit had VP rank. When the training was in progress, VP kept on calling the HODs in between. None of the HOD could show courage to tell the VP that he was attending the training and keep off the matter till next day. Their continuous movement was disturbing. Finally I asked openly on their movement. One participant quipped "we have to mind our appraisal also". Everybody started laughing.
What is this example? Did VP make puppets out of HODs or not? On completion of the training, HR Head rued VP's behaviour in private and he told that VP is the biggest impediment in fostering the learning culture!
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
I want to add just one line.
One does not become a puppet, you are a puppet if you agree to be one.