The father of the Quality Movement, Dr. W. Edwards Deming wrote, “The economic losses resulting from fear are appalling.” What did he mean by this? A number of things, but most centrally that when anyone at any level of an organization is afraid to speak up for whatever reason, the organization suffers. Two obvious examples. First, a worker on the front line of a service-based business sees a way in which policy is inadvertently damaging customer loyalty. If the worker’s boss is one of those leaders who tends to be a rigid, ego-centric individual who acts as if he is the fount of all good ideas and consequently shoots down others, the worker is unlikely to speak up. As a result, a good idea stays buried. Customers are underserved. Revenues are negatively impacted and, often, the boss ends up blaming the workforce for all of it. (More on blame in a future blog). Second, a mid-level manager is experiencing her supervisor as being inappropriate in both language and behavior towards her. Even though she is aware of the law about sexual harassment and workplace discrimination, she is afraid that objecting will land her in hot water and damage her chances for promotion. She goes into an avoidance mode which stresses her days and tends to constrain her input in management meetings because she doesn’t want her boss paying any more attention to her than he already does. Again, the result is a lack of fluid creativity and innovation that could serve the greater good of the company. In this case, it’s likely the individual will seek employment elsewhere, making the loss of creativity even greater. Take this even further and imagine you have a management team that is afraid to hear what customers have to say…and customers who are, after years of feeling dissed, afraid or indifferent to saying anything!
Anyone who has been in an organization for more than a month or two is likely to have experienced directly or witnessed variations on these themes, the central truth being exactly what Deming said—a loss of creativity, quality, productivity and competitive advantage because people are afraid to speak up. Now a lot of folks will tell you that you can’t change a leader with these traits. Yet, I have found it far more possible than most believe to spur positive growth in such a leader.
How is this done? I generally prefer to encourage a robust regimen of leadership development experiences for the leader who tends to be tight. My own preference is to create a positive relationship with the individual at his work site over a period of a few months, do some gentle coaching while we’re getting to know each other and he’s beginning to trust me, and then invite him out to my neck of the woods for a 3-day intensive one-on-one. I call this The Ultimate One-on-One. It was born out of my listening to my own clients. For six years, I gave a four and a-half day group leadership retreat. We averaged a dozen and a half people from all over North America. It was a highly participatory experience and people got a lot of growth from it. A number of them began to ask me if they couldn’t return and work with me one-on-one. Whenever a client or customer asks me for something, I try to say, “Yes.” That’s my default orientation. So I responded that this sounded like a good idea… how much time together would be optimal? They all answered, “Two or three days.” I began with two but quickly discovered along with the client that three worked far better. We spend at least eight hours a day for the three days together. We’re outdoors most of the time, in a huge state park full of 200 foot high sand dunes and magnificent rustic beaches where there is plenty of opportunity for privacy. By getting into a “Vulcan mind-meld” with people for the three days, we have consistently been able to catalyze significant growth away from the rigid, ego-centric, authoritarian leadership style. As an aside, I have also been able to catalyze growth in those leaders who err too far on the other side, being permissive and being willing to try anything and everything their workers suggest, without first vetting the ideas.
As to what actually transpires during these three days, the short answer is a very deep dive and a lot of education. These people have plenty of IQ. Where they need help is EQ—emotional intelligence…understanding their own inner dynamics and how to shift some of the negative energy they carry semi-consciously or unconsciously into a conscious effort to stay positive and appropriately inclusive and warm towards others. So the deep dive is into their Emotional Heritage and how it shows up in their day-to-day life. The education gives them a better conceptual grasp of their own dynamics, now that they have experienced them more deeply on a feeling level. Then we can move on to look at specific techniques that will actively implement this new orientation. But a word of caution, working on techniques alone is largely a waste of time. The individual has to be able to sense and feel on a gut and heart level what the benefits of a different leadership approach can be. Otherwise, no matter how wonderful a new technique might be, it is likely to land with a thud. A simple example. A leader who decides he’s supposed to be more inclusive might begin to ask for more opinions in his management meetings. However, if he is still operating from an ego-centric energy, he will revert in a fairly brief time to doing most of the talking and letting people know why his ideas are the best and theirs, not so much.
This is not intended to be an ad for my services. There are others who offer their own version of the same exploratory process. Leaders who come through such deep dynamic transformation actually begin to listen from a place of genuine calm, curiosity and gratitude that they have people around them who are so dedicated, bright and wishing to contribute. They are now working in the one C of the 14 I introduced in an earlier blog that integrates all of them on the highest possible plane—Consciousness. They are conscious they are not the fount of all wisdom. They are conscious they need a rich variety of perspectives to sustain success. They are conscious that people will give their broadest and deepest input when they feel safe and heard.
It is more possible than many might think to help a leader grow towards being a 14C Leader. But it is serious work to shift from leadership of fear to a leadership of Consciousness.
C Bob Kamm 2011
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