Is a manager’s job to “give orders”?

I read a post on LinkedIn today arguing that the job of a manager is to give orders, and for staff to learn to take them.

But does this work?

"Giving orders" is the single most dangerous leadership style. It is necessary when you are in an emergency or chaotic situation and people need clarity on how to proceed, but otherwise it should be avoided where possible.

Lots of precise orders leads to declining motivation, role clarity, and team performance (there is evidence based on quantitative surveys and interviews with tens of thousands of leaders and professionals that backs this up).

Leaders who give lots of orders are often left wondering why they have such bad employees (!).

Instead, when you give your team lots of context on the goal and situation, and clarity on their role (supported by training and coaching), they are more motivated and can figure out for themselves and volunteer what needs to be done.

This works!

It's like magic when your team are motivated to look for gaps and fill them proactively.