Spaghetti Leadership - Part 3

Where others voluntarily follow you.

Ideas – a dime a dozen

In keeping with a leader’s natural instinct and ability to think forward, anything invented today is almost immediately upstaged by others thinking of new ideas for tomorrow.

Freshness of thinking is a commodity most prevalent with great leaders.

I remember reading an interview in Advertising Age with the President of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, seen at the time as one of the most innovative and upcoming agencies of the decade.

He was being asked his thoughts about clients not accepting the agency’s creative ideas. His answer to paraphrase: “We’ll just bring them another 20 tomorrow”.

I realize this will rub many creatives the wrong way – but the point is not about selling the work – it’s about the attitude leaders have about ideas. To them, there is no limit to new, fresh, or innovative ideas.

No Excuses

Remember the famous Popeye proclamation;  “I Yam what I Yam”. Nothing better captures the mental state of a leader.

Leaders do not apologize for who or what they are.

They don’t excuse their actions but instead bask in them often an anathema to those who disagreed with their actions.

For this they are often considered irreverent, arrogant, and even egotistical, yet they are still followed because of their seemingly unwavering certainty.

To many politicians this level of certainty and conviction is abhorrent, for they live in a life of “grey – never black nor white, yes or no. It’s aways Maybe.

I remember attending a leadership symposium where the lecturer, obviously schooled in the art of “consensus building” was quick to remind us that it was the collective that lead, not the individual.

I wondered then if they understood that their blatantly duplicitousness was on display for all to see.

You see, there they were an individual leading us, by telling us what we should think, yet we were to believe it was us, the collective, that were the leaders of the symposium? Make sense? Yeh to me neither! One of those do what I say, not what I do kind of things.

The exception - Culture

There are cultures, and not only on a national or regional scale, but organizational cultures where charm and low-keyed conviction are considered tremendous traits of a great leader.

A research study published in Administrative Science Quarterly based on the leaders of 63 Chinese companies found the humility of leaders is key and then attempted to correlate this insight with the assertion of its efficacy and relevance to the halls of western companies.

Well, if you live in Britain, Australia, South Africa or America, as the saying goes, When in Rome do as the Romans would, but please, not here!

In China, one is taught from an early age that publicly disagreeing with a leader is not only bad form and verboten, but you do it at the risk of removal, dismissal or worse.

Speak only when spoken to. Never volunteer anything publicly as it might offend a senior. Always revere your leader and never publicly show your disapproval.

From having travelled for the past 4 decades to over 26 countries, 100 cities in 5 continents and worked with some 650 companies and 150,000 employees of both local and global companies, I can attest these stylistic differences don’t alter the basic humanistic inner traits endemic to great leaders.

Obviously, charm, wit and kindness of character are endearing qualities, and many respond well to these and will voluntarily follow leaders who display them.

But then again, there are those who believe these are demonstrable signs of weakness of character and would never consider one who displayed them a leader.

Case in point: Chaka Zulu who in South Africa impaled anyone who showed any sign of “softness”, became one of the nation’s most notorious but revered leaders uniting all tribes into the Zulu Nation. (1787-1828).

Lee Iacocca

Case in point: What Denny Pawley, who ran all of Chrysler’s manufacturing and operating systems, said of Lee Iacocca who brought the company back from the brink of bankruptcy. “I really believe that the name Lee Iacocca is the definition of leadership. He was fearless and never ran from a challenge. Competitors feared him but gave him the respect he deserved. Working for him created lots of tension, but I always knew he was there to pick me up if I fell. He always knew the exact amount of tension to apply without destroying an individual's motivation. I never wanted to fail at anything in my responsibility at Chrysler because I never wanted to disappoint him. [He was] a role model for me and many others in the industry.”

The point. Great leaders understand that stylistically, there is no “one fits all” approach to leadership. Instead, they assess their audiences and adapt.

Clarity of Purpose

One thing all leaders have in common. They have their own expectations of those they are leading, as seen in most competent company managers and C-Suite executives.

Namby-pamby directives, politically correct language that results in vagueness of direction are not strong suits of successful leaders.

Do not get this confused with insensitive and derogatory communications like saying to someone who is overweight, “Get your fat ass in gear”. That’s just rude, crude, and unkind.

Instead, we are talking about being clear and decisive.

There is nothing worse than someone being confused by what is expected of them, yet due in large part to a recent trend towards leading by consensus, clarity has suffered a dire consequence.

I’ve sat with dozens of teams trying to reach consensus with the members wondering what their role or responsibilities were, who will make the final call, should I tread carefully or really say what’s on my mind, instead of reaching an action point, the purpose of their meeting.

Imagine this behavior in the locker room during half time at the Superbowl when the team is 20 points down.

It’s believed an age old african proverb provides that wonderful insight, “It takes a village to raise a child”

However, as with any group, for the village itself to thrive sufficiently to raise their children, it takes leadership.

By the pure meaning of the noun lead - the initiative in an action; an example for others to follow - as in the simple case of leading a race, leaders should similarly lead.

Therefore, lead by making clear what you expect from the team (your business village) and they will deliver.

The final to come in Part 4 - Spaghetti Leadership - Stay tuned