The challenge for most executives is that the skills they developed as middle managers are inadequate for the next step up. They know their business, have mastered supervision, and have honed their decision-making skills. But what’s often missing is a mental framework for becoming a more strategic leader. One way we help leaders develop their strategic thinking muscle is through the use of experiential exercises. In just a short time, these activities allow participants in leadership development programs to make decisions in a safe environment that reveal flawed “mental models” while they develop new mindsets.
Over half of my executive coaching clients have “improve delegating effectiveness” as a development priority. All are experienced senior players; each has a long, successful track record. And yet, they all share a simple, yet profound blind spot that turns them, and the people they delegate to, into jug heads. Last year, I began work with an especially talented client. As the new CEO of a mid-sized Chamber of Commerce, her board suggested she engage me to help her “change the Chamber’s leadership culture.” After she quickly reviewed her background and the Chamber’s priorities, Chris got right to the point: “I’m not sure I’ve got the right team. They’re fairly experienced, but they lack urgency. I have to keep following up just to make sure things get done and I really don’t have the time to babysit senior staff.”
The football coach stood frustrated on the sideline as his quarterback threw incomplete passes. He suddenly rushed onto the field, grabbed the ball from the quarterback’s hands, and started passing to the startled wide receivers. After the coach completed a pass he returned the ball to the quarterback, and said, “my boy, that is how its done,” as he walked off the field. This never really happened. But countless times managers behave the same way by grabbing a ‘problem’ out of their employees’ hands, ‘solving’ it by taking over, and then thinking they are good coaches. They are wrong.
I was recently exploring a new coaching relationship with a high achieving, successful executive. Paul insisted that he wanted to ‘bring his game to another level’ and thought I might be a catalyst for his professional development. As I listened to his background and his amazing career trajectory a funny thought occurred to me: I wished I was him! He was outgoing, unpretentious, self-aware, and possibly the least neurotic person I’ve met in a long time. I wondered how I could possibly support him. Then he told me a story about one of the vice presidents who reported to him.
In the historical, yet fictional movie The Mutiny on the Bounty Spencer Christian and crew cast out the autocratic Captain Bligh and commandeered the ship. Bligh is then punished for his appalling leadership while Christian and his cronies end their days cavorting with natives of a South Pacific island paradise. Yet actually, in real life most of the mutineers were caught and hanged. And after a few self-indulgent years, their native hosts killed Mr. Christian and the remaining sailors. Ironically, Captain Bligh survived a grueling return trip to England and was rewarded with command of other voyages for the British admiralty (two of which resulted in mutinies, but that’s another story). Lesson one? Don’t believe everything you see in movies. Lesson two? Take care when you replace a dictatorial leader. Many leaders believe that authoritarian leadership is obsolete and are convinced that a more engaging approach yields the best results. Yet a large percentage of executives act according to authoritarian principles: They employ top down directives underpinned by a belief that people need to be driven, often by fear.
In a PBS interview, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock described the magic of collaboration as he learned it in his twenties while travelling with improvisational genius Miles Davis. During one performance, Hancock remembered feeling a unique connection with the band, the crowd, the overall vibe. The juices were flowing. Suddenly, loudly, Hancock played a chord that was completely wrong. He panicked. Miles Davis took a breath, and then improvised a series of notes that “made the chord right.”
As the saying goes, ‘trust is earned by the penny, but spent by the dollar.’ In other words, while trust is constructed through countless transactions, it can be shattered with only one negative interaction. Even an inadvertent betrayal of trust can wipe out an entire account. While it is easy to understand why organizations require high levels of trust to operate effectively (imagine trying to delegate or collaborate without it!) it’s less clear how to re-establish trust when it has been violated.
A recent article in the Times suggested that Americans’ mistrust of each other has reached an all time high — that we live in an era of unprecedented cynicism. Maybe so. But we submit that this generalization obscures a more meaningful truth — there are people in our lives, every day, every year, who inspire not only trust, but also awaken in us our best selves. As we head into the new year we thought it would be enlightening to highlight a few individuals whose leadership this year meant a lot to our lives and to the lives of others. They are our leader heroes of the year. Who are yours? Fred Werstlein: Volunteer leader of an initiative that will provide to people experiencing homelessness an agency to help them acquire jobs that actually pay a living wage. Always in service to people who live in crisis and who face terrible odds, Fred unfailingly personifies good cheer and that rare commodity — grace.
I love Thanksgiving. But I wonder why so many of us wait for the third Thursday of November to express gratitude. God must surely end the day exhausted by the millions of people giving ‘thanks’ because the day requires it. When one institutionalizes something special, it becomes routine. Corporate recognition programs are great examples of well-intended attempts to “automate” what should be meaningful interactions between colleagues. In my opinion, the ability of a leader to affirm others authentically is one of the most profound skills of effective leadership and one of the least mastered.
When my friend Ethan was transferred to another city we vowed to stay in touch. And we did, primarily with me initiating contact. Over time, the interval between our calls lengthened. I remember thinking with some annoyance, “I’m putting all the energy into our relationship, why doesn’t he call once in a while?” Time passed. I thought about him often and waited for him to connect. We haven’t spoken in over five years. This is an example of the first law of the physics of relationships, and it relates to inertia: relationships continue moving in the direction they are going until someone does something to change their trajectories. Relationship inertia is particularly hazardous in work settings. There, power dynamics amplify peoples’ insecurities, inhibiting coworkers from changing the course of their relationships. The most severe symptoms of relationship inertia are mistrust and blame. The longer the symptoms last, the more damaging the outcome.
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