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Does “Stewardship Theory” Really Happen, Or Is It Work Utopia BS?
In short, stewardship theory is this idea that managers within companies, left to their own devices, will put the interests of the firm above their own. There are a million and 19 buzzwords around this, including “conscious capitalism” and/or the idea that Boy Scouts learn to leave a campground in better shape than they found out.
In essence, this is saying managers won’t be assholes and will lead from the right places, both in terms of people and assets.
If you’ve ever spent maybe six and a half minutes inside most companies, you know stewardship theory is fairly rare in execution. Most managers, unfortunately, are me-first assholes. This has created many work cultures where ethics is in decline, trust is in decline, the setting of clear priorities is barely visible, and respect walked out the door a long time ago.
In those office climates, stewardship theory is a gag-on-buzzwords pipe dream. Now, there are some people who have great bosses and supportive cultures. That’s awesome. And honestly, in any workplace north of about 10 people, some of those peeps will perceive work as awesome — and some will hate it. I didn’t like my last full-time job that much, but some people there religiously loved it above all else. Personally thought…
