Leadership matters
Post #13 in a series seeking to answer "What is Understanding made of?"
“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”
- Ralph Nader
So much of our understanding is static. And that’s okay. If everything is going fine, why change? But when confronted with evidence our understanding is insufficient to address new needs, we have an opportunity to grow. That is where leadership comes in… to guide us through adoption of new or improved models of understanding, to bring us to a new and hopefully better place where prior troubles are conquered.
No model can exist without a leadership element. It could be as simple as written directions for how to build something new. It can be as every day as the teachers or parents who try to instill their knowledge and values into their charges. Or it can be extraordinary, like some military, political and business leaders. Without the guidance these leaders provide, no new understanding or advances in society would be possible.
In this view leaders are never needed if the goal is just to keep things the same. Those who fear change may increase their size and heft (cry, complain, get fat) just to make change look scary and impossible, but they are not leaders. They are inertia-laden fearmongerers, typically manipulators serving their own selfish interests.
Leaders are people who help their followers find the reason and energy to make change possible. Change may mean abandoning old positions, gaining new skills, increasing strength and endurance, or arriving in a better place that was not obvious before you began the journey. No new understanding is ever reached without a skilled leader sharing the journey, showing the way.
When a leaders job is done, he should step back. If he doesn’t, he risks gaining inertia and keeping his followers from growing any further even in the face of new needs.
One of the purposes of Boy Scouts is to teach boys about leadership. At the end of my tenure as scoutmaster, one of my sons organized and led a 4 day hiking trip through several back trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a group 12. He planned it perfectly… schedule, campsite reservations, food, assignment of responsibilities to every participant. He also demonstrated proudly how boys his age could easily outperform men of my age when it came to climbing and safely descending steep mountains on rugged trails.
“Dad, I’m sorry if we’re going too fast (smirk, smirk).”
“Dad, I’m sorry if the path we choose is hurting you and Mr. D (smirk, smirk).”
Everything was going well for them while Mr. D and I remained painfully proud, pulling up the rear. Then on the last day, the forecast was for rain that would intensify as the day progressed. The boy leaders decided we should break camp early to head off as much of that as possible. We concurred. As adult leaders, Mr. D and I always had the last say since it was assumed that we knew more than the boys. On our final hike down a seldom-used Forest Service trail, with a drizzle beginning, we all agreed to stay within arms’ length of each other.
The trail we were required to follow paralleled a mountain stream, crossing back and forth over it multiple times during our descent, the first crossing being no more than 3 feet in width, the third being across a mini waterfall perhaps 10 feet across with many large boulders upstream to grab hold of when slime and an off-balanced 40 pound pack led anybody to lose footing. As the rain intensified, we noticed that the rocks on the third crossing that were supposed to provide footholds were more and more being slammed into by a rising brook making their slime slimier. Worse, as the slope lessened, there were fewer boulders to grab and help stabilize our balance. Mr. D and I looked at each other with concern.
As we descended further, the brook began to bubble, and as the brook grow wider on its descent, it began to look more like a river. We had already almost lost one bag on the third crossing when a boy slipped and it fell out of his hands into the brook (which another boulder luckily stopped just a few feet away).
Thus when the map said there were three river crossings left, I asked the boys if they thought we would be safe going further from this point forward. The map showed that the last crossing was actually over a suspension bridge, so it was safe to assume it would be relatively dry and safe. But the two river crossings before it were just exposed rocks, one of which we were now staring at. As I put it to the boys, you have a choice… cross over the river here and stay on a trail that will lead us back across the same river further downstream, or blaze a new path on this side of the river over a muddy forest floor until we reconnect with the main trail.
We asked them to think about other pros and cons of both paths, but do it fast because the rain was now becoming dangerously strong. The pros for crossing were that the map said we should, and the trail would always be well marked. The cons against crossing were that the rocks were now dangerously slippery, there was no guide rope to hold onto, and the rocks could soon disappear if the river kept rising. Also if we did make it safely across this time, how much assurance could we have that we would be able to make it back when we arrived downstream?
The most macho boys said, “We can handle the river, we’re strong and smart.” But others said, “I don’t know. That might be too risky. And hey, look at this map. If we can’t cross back over, we will be stuck. There are multiple rivers coming together at the next crossing, and we may have nowhere else to go.” The boy leaders concluded (maybe influenced by the faces of us adults) that we needed to forge a new trail.
Mr. D and I told them that leadership often meant being willing to change a plan, but that as long as you weigh out all the risks, your decision will probably be good. We told them we agreed with their decision, and if anybody fell we would pull them out of the mud as we went through the pathless forest.
Macho boys complained as one boot and then another sunk deep into the mire when we couldn’t find higher or drier ground to traverse. And one boy used appropriately harsh language when much more than his boots fell into a particularly mucky patch. But an hour later we found the main trail… and saw that at the adjacent river crossing there were no rocks, nothing exposed on which feet could have made that crossing, only a fast moving torrent of water. Even the macho boys bowed their heads realizing that deviating from the original plan may have saved their lives.
Most of us are managers. We implement plans given to us by others by controlling the availability of people and resources that are required to make those plans successful. Managers can become leaders, however, when they recognize the plans they are given no longer work, and they scrap those to transition to some other approach. Leaders are the people who can define a need, get support for change, and guide us through it. When the transition is over, good leaders even know to step aside. Think of Moses who led his followers to “the Promised Land,” but could not step into it himself.
In this model of leadership, true leaders are able to:
- Articulate a broad vision (the model); describe a destination that many will agree is more desirable than where they are today… creating the starting condition or supporting environment that makes these people recognize staying where they are is not acceptable.
- Inspire others to begin investing a little of themselves to overcome the inertia to do nothing… using language that connects at a deep level, tapping into the power each of us has.
- Map a path that most can survive on and that brings them closer to the goals they have set… ensuring that the environment which the overwhelming majority finds themselves in is always supportive of their health and long term goals, and allowing those who cannot survive on the selected path to retreat or explore an alternate path, but not to sabotage the progress of the greater group.
- Define and enforce reasonable rules (created limits) to prevent chaotic movement or downward spiraling while on the path.
- Provide comfort instead of panic when those invested in other paths try to create noise that could otherwise confuse and slow down the group’s progress.
- Cajole participants to stretch, grow and do better than their previous physical and emotional best while on the journey, creating a frequent sense of awe and accomplishment.
- Recognize and accept all types of followers and their different needs, their different starting places, and the different gifts each brings to the table… and empower each to use their gifts for the greater good (making each a leader in their own right).
- Step aside, even if temporarily or partially, when a more capable leader comes forth to guide people through particularly difficult transitions.
One more leadership matter… there is a false leadership that is very prevalent in the business world, one that is characterized by cynicism. Cynics appear funny and claim superiority by degrading those who threaten them. They are the classroom bullies who never grew up. Their leadership style is destruction through distribution of poison. Their purpose is to keep those who follow them from seeing that they are merely frightened little people with no substance. Leaders, or those who seek leadership by cynically portraying their competition and their staff as “idiots,” “bleeding hearts,” “naïve liberals” and “bleeping assholes” are people who are mostly afraid of exposing their own lack of caring, thought and depth, because that would show them to be truly inconsequential. Cynicism may allow some people to grab and hold power, but it can never allow a person to lead others to new heights. Cynicism will only keep everybody it touches locked in their own dungeons. It is a poison to avoid.
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Tags: leadership, models, Understanding
Understanding | Stan Kaczmarek | 18 February 2010 |
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By Allen Taylor, February 18, 2010 @ 5:46 pm
Nice writing. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road.
Allen Taylor
By Sarah Kaczmarek, February 18, 2010 @ 11:25 pm
Hi Daddy,
This morning I attended a leadership seminar for those in my role at Disney and I thought it beautifully complimented your post. As we were discussing:
A manager is someone who does the job right, a leader is someone who does what they think is right. Integrity is the most important quality in a leader (at least that is what we came up with this morning), because without integrity it would be very difficult to inspire others or even to communicate. Leaders are excellent at dealing with the unexpected, but who will listen to them if they are lacking integrity? I’m not so worried about the Negative Nancy leadership styles because just like the classroom bully, no one likes them and we all know it; we’re just afraid to stand up to them because they have the ability to hurt us with words. Maybe if you utilize your positive leadership skills, you can confront the Negative Nancy types and make them feel like real jerks for needing to stoop to their level. They attract their following by intimidating others or using that loud domineering demeanor to create the feeling that they must be right because they said their beliefs the loudest! Maybe we consider them leaders because of their passion? They may lack integrity, but boy are they passionate!
Just one more thing. You mentioned, “When a leaders job is done, he should step back” but I’m not sure that a good or effective leader would have to. If a leader is inspiring others to do something and utilizing great relationship skills, I think that those that were being led, will step up and do something regardless of whether the leader is telling them to or not. The leader may become more of a mentor, but they are still a leader for those who need them.
By Stan Kaczmarek, February 19, 2010 @ 3:53 pm
Thanks for the additional insights. The point about leaders pulling back… it is more about empowering others to act in positive ways without making them dependent on you. A good parent, for example, is always there for his children, but is happiest when his children figure out how to be happy and secure without needing him. That doesn’t mean I am not there for you, but when I no longer have to be, we have both grown and can delight in that.
I am also glad that you bring up mentoring. That is a type of leadership that exists entirely to help somebody learn and grow. It is sorely lacking in most US workplaces today. I hope you find a good one early in your career. I think that also deserves some attention in my http://www.egoecosystem.com blog.