Decrapify Work or Die (the one unexpectedly about leadership)
Out Of Touch
The pandemic has been a harsh spotlight on many aspects of our world, drawing them into stark and unflattering relief and this last week it has fallen on ‘Leadership’. I increasingly put the word in parentheses because much of what bears that label is so woefully inadequate it doesn’t deserve to be dignified with the title.
First up, a Microsoft survey shows that just over 60% of Senior Managers say they are ‘thriving’ under COVID Work-from-home restrictions, whilst over 60% of their employees say they are ‘struggling’. I don’t know how you can think you are thriving when most of your employees are struggling unless you are a sociopath or you have no idea how they feel. Either or both of these seem likely.
Then Apple CEO Tim Cook says that people will come back to the office for three days a week, only to get considerable push-back from said people saying “no we bloody well won’t!”. Turns out Tim thought that because he really enjoyed being in the office and interacting with other people that everyone felt the same. They did not. Which is pretty much the definition of being out of touch.
It’s not all bad. SAP have announced a flexible working policy that is based on trust and flexible schedules. Salesforce’s policy is driven by the work first, then the how and finally the where, giving their people flexibility. Both companies are have been in dialogue with their staff about this before and during the pandemic and that has shaped their policies.
That’s leadership, right?
But most are floundering, or just blithely sailing on in blissful ignorance about what their people think or feel. That’s ‘Leadership’. In name only.
School's Out
Some people may think that the problem with ‘Leadership’ is inadequate training and education.
I disagree. Well, partly. I mean, vast sums of money are spent on leadership education every year and we ought to be seeing a better return on that, it’s true. But I think the whole premise of selecting and training leaders is wrong. We’re approaching it like we do sports development, picking those who have potential and concentrating investment in them and that’s just inappropriate.
Firstly, sport is a finite game and business is an infinite game. We can see who will become a good rower or cyclist or basketball player. I mean, literally, you can see the physical attributes necessary to excel at those disciplines. When it comes to seeing who is going to be the best leader, it’s an order of magnitude harder.
Secondly, we don’t know who we need to lead in the future, who will be best in the context. We could be selecting a bunch of high-jumpers, only to find the game has changed to the shot putt. (I think this describes the problem with a lot of leadership teams at the moment, their talents are mismatched to the requirements of today - and tomorrow).
We should be teaching everyone how to lead, so that they can step forward when they are the best person for that context. This gives the organisation adaptability and resilience and releases potential that is overlooked by existing ‘Leadership development’ approaches.
It allows for Leaders to emerge too, providing multiple pathways for people and a diversity of types of leaders that enables learning and mitigates against groupthink. It also prepares people for self-organising teams, which I believe will become increasingly important and prevalent.
Instead of teaching Leadership as a model to copy, we should be enabling people to develop their own style of leading and of ‘being’ a leader that is based on their own values, strengths and personality. Being the leader then becomes one of facet of their personality, a role that is a natural extension of themselves.
I may be biased. No-one taught me how to be a leader, I developed my own style over time (mostly by looking at the people leading me and doing the opposite!). I think that’s why I was pretty successful and felt comfortable leading. The only times I felt the pressure was when I was being coerced to lead in a different manner.
Show Me The Way
I wasn’t intending this edition to be all about Leadership but as it is then I might as well give my two-penn’orth on it.
I learnt to lead very much ‘on the job’, not only running teams and departments but also leading multiple projects and programmes personally and participating in others, across divisions, countries, companies and cultures. I put my collected wisdom in this article “10 things you need to do to be a brilliant leader”. The key points are:
Create a safe environment
Make everyone a leader
People first, always
Be first reserve
Challenge constantly and constructively
Laugh a lot
Be humble
Be vulnerable
Be generous
Be courageous
Mary Parker Follett said
“Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.”
To me, leadership is about giving and, in so doing, growing. So my quote is
“To lead is, truly, to love.”
Go and lead. And be brilliant.
Twist and Shout
‘Reimagining Work Crew’ is a meetup I run with the leader of the Be More Pirate community Alex Barker. At the last one we discussed the provocation “Purpose at work is a CON” and a lively debate ensued. It’s not about one side or the other winning the debate, it’s about finding multiple perspectives to look at the issue. What we surfaced is a lot of ambivalence about ‘purpose’ and the motivations behind its deployment by businesses. Intent is everything, of course, but do businesses even have a right to try to engage your emotions and intrinsic motivations in that way?
The next meetup will be discussing “Innovations are mostly abberations and accidents”. If you are interested in joining here, sign up to the Be More Pirate meet-up group