It became apparent to me after doing this a couple of times, however, that nobody was listening, or listening much. Many were wondering if they still had a job. Others if the new benefits program would cover their prescriptions or upcoming surgery. Some worried that they might have a new title, a new boss, a new office. They might have to prove themselves all over again, after a decade or two of work. Would we honor their bonus structure or time in service? And, hey, what about accrued vacation!?
We like to think of leaders as setting big, audacious goals and leading troops up the mountain to victory. That's certainly the part that gets written about, the superior person who has chosen a path worthy of being followed. But there's another critical dynamic in organizations having to do with goals, and not much to do with the leader's big, audacious one.
It's Not the Noblest Call That Gets Answered
"It is not the noblest call that gets answered, but the answerable call."
One of the most time-consuming aspects of leadership, then, and the one least mentioned, is the leader's need to understand and engage with his followers. There can be no big, audacious shared goal until there are dozens and perhaps hundreds of small, individual shared goals. Only then does the leader have a fighting chance to be that superior person we have all come to admire.
Think of It This Way
A company is launched with three people, all wanting to storm the world with their big idea. The shared goal is a given. The first year five new people are added, or 10, or 25. They are all chosen for their talents, and for their willingness to embrace the big idea. They all rub elbows in the only office, feeding off one another's excitement. Sooner or later, however, with any success comes scale, reach and staff who know the founders and their big idea more by web and story and cocktail gathering than by daily, personal experience. One of these remote staff might be, say, a young Accounts Receivable clerk who wants one day to be a CFO and maybe run his or her own company.
That personal, individual goal trumps the leader's big, audacious goal, at least in terms of creating a loyal, enthusiastic follower. Professor Wills reminds us that philosopher David Hume believed people obey others for their own advantage. In other words--I know what's in it for you, but what's in it for me?
The Leader as Horse-Trader
Leadership, then, is often about the ability to barter well. To merchandise wisely. To walk down the center aisle of the bazaar and come out the other end smiling. It may well be the most human part of leadership.
I suspect, too, it's where a lot of smart, driven, and otherwise vastly superior leaders fail. They forget the horse-trade: Protect my title, don't cut my benefits and honor my bonus. Show me a path to promotion. Give me some shares, if only a few, so I am an owner. Let me run a development team. Help fund my degree. Let me learn the latest code. Invite me to the right meetings. Let me see a little of the world. Protect my dignity. Only when we have bartered successfully for my goals am I a ready and willing disciple of your big, audacious goal.
Gary Wills says we don't lack leaders--there are plenty of those. We lack sufficient followers.
Maybe that's because the success stories of superior leaders often overlook this important part of the equation. Maybe the need for listening hard to individuals and successful bartering in their best interests--sometimes we simply call it "taking care of people"--is so obvious that it need not be mentioned.
Maybe not.
This I do know: It doesn't take too many cafeteria meetings where grand words fall on deaf ears to know that leaders cannot achieve their big goals until they first do the fundamental horse-trading required to meet the personal goals of those they hope to lead up the mountain.
0 Response to "The Leader as Horse-Trader"
Post a Comment