Shades of Leadership

Leadership in Adversity

George S. Patton once said, “The test of success is not what you do when you’re on top.  Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom”.  As I think of great leaders I know, I believe this to be true.  Although we admire things they accomplish in the pinnacles of their lives, it’s the lessons leaders learn when things don’t go their way that makes them worth following.

If you’re doing anything at all, you’re bound to run into adversity.  Whether you’re running a company, heading up a family, or coordinating a group of volunteers, there are going to be times when things don’t go quite as you plan.  Sometimes it’s because you miscalculated, and sometimes it’s because of things that others do that require you to need to shift gears.  I’m always intrigued to watch people in these circumstances, because there are a few distinct personalities that seem to always emerge:

• The Ostrich:  The proverbial head-in-the-sand individual who refuses to admit that anything is wrong.  Sometimes the ostrich is physically absent (corporate ostriches stay in their offices and don’t talk to but a few people), but in today’s world, he can be someone who convinces himself and those around him that things will be alright.  Well-honed ostriches pass themselves off as optimists (don’t worry – the money will come in).  They try to surround themselves with people who are afraid to rock the boat, who in an effort to continue to please the ostrich, keep feeding it with information to support the story that there really isn’t a problem.  If you are being led by an ostrich, it can feel good at first – after all, who wants to hear they are failing?  But over time, you begin to wonder what the person is eating, drinking or smoking that causes the delusion that all is well.  Bright people working for ostriches keep their resumes dusted off.
  • Ostriches almost never bounce very high when the fail.  They will ride a wave into the ground, never fully understanding why they failed at all. 

• The Dial-Turner:  The person who knows the ship is going down, but can’t focus on what to do, so he resorts to turning all the dials at once.  These are usually very reactionary people, with available resources to help them make things happen.  They don’t like to waste time getting different points of view, and if they could, they’d wear a cape.  These are people who don’t like to be associated with failure, and will do everything in their power to make a problem go away.  They often measure success by the level of activity they generate.  They’ll measure quick blips of success (they do get lucky), take credit, and deal with the next crisis. Working for a dial turner can lead to a nervous breakdown.  Today you zig, tomorrow you zag. 
  • Dial-turners almost never stop bouncing because they are always surrounded by problems brought on by their own doing.  But they don’t bounce very high.

• The Incredible Sulk:  The person who decides the world is against him because everything goes wrong.  He doesn’t mobilize himself or anyone else because he plays victim.  Instead, he looks for people to blame and hopes that someone else makes the problem go away.  This type of person creates an environment of negativity, and drains any energy that might exist around him.  Working for a person like this is depressing – unless you’re just like him in which case you’ll work each other into such a negative spiral that no one else will want to be around you.
  • Sulks rarely succeed because they are too busy being negative to recognize opportunities to turn things around.

Look around you.  You’ll see people like this all around you.  You don’t like to have any of them as leaders.  Instead, you prefer a profile resembling the following:

• The Leader/Coach:  The person who identifies the problem, examines the options, mobilizes the necessary skills around him, and executes.  The leader/coach takes the time to provide context to those on the team, to make sure everyone understands the problem – what it is, and what it’s not.  He priorities activities and sets goals.  He then trusts his team to do their part, makes decisions that are needed (even if they aren't comfortable), measures progress against goals, and rewards people for success.

Leaders develop over time.  They have natural skills, but they are learners.  The take every challenge, and grow from it – and make sure those around them do the same.  People who work with great leaders feel appreciated and don’t shy away from adversity – they embrace it!  

 

Leadership Through Communication

In his company’s 2010 proxy, Transocean CEO, Steven L. Newman, states that they had the “best year in safety performance in our company’s history”.   This is the company that owned the rig in the Gulf of Mexico that exploded, killing 11 people leading to the worst oil spill ever.  Evidently, their definition of a safety problem doesn’t include killing people. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the world feels differently.

The fact that such a statement was printed in a proxy demonstrates one of two things:

1. He’s surrounded by people who don’t have the courage to tell him he’s wrong or insensitive, or
2. He’s delegated the proxy writing to someone equally insensitive, and doesn’t bother to look at it before it goes to print.   

So now he’s trying to correct his terrible “faux pas” by remarking in the world’s greatest understatement that it “may have been insensitive”.  Wow.  I’ll bet the next thing you hear from his board is that they have “the greatest confidence” in their CEO – which is usually the precursor to an exit.

So what can a leader do to ensure that he/she isn’t caught in this messy position? 

• Take a look at people around you.  Have you surrounded yourself with people who won’t tell you the truth?  Are they so worried about pleasing the boss that they’ll put the company’s reputation at risk for fear of ticking you off?  If so, you’d better change the company you keep or start making plans for your next gig – because you’re on borrowed time.

• What processes have you set up to have different people play devil’s advocate on your communication strategy?  Include people who don’t report to you – either inside or outside of the company.  They will often have a different perspective. 

• If it’s important enough (such as a proxy), your board should want to see what goes out.  Their reputation is at stake, too.  If you have a board that isn’t interested in what you say, you need a new board.

• Does someone in your organization have the responsibility for doing a “brand check” on everything you say?  This could be your Chief Marketing Officer, your PR Executive, or your Corporate Brand Manager.  Regardless of the title, everything anyone says about the company should be checked against your brand values to make sure you aren't failing to deliver on an important promise.

Leading in the absence of a well thought out communications plan is probably one of the dumbest things executives do today.  Aside from the fact that people have long memories about leaders making mistakes, in today’s world of social media, things that you say (let alone print) take on a life of their own through tweets, posts, and YouTube uploads.  If you're doing business in an industry under scrutiny (which seems to be most these days), your critics are waiting for you to slip.  In today's world filled with skeptics about corporate contributions to society, recovering from insensitive comments is virtually impossible – just ask Tony Hayward. 

Reinforce your communication plans with the right people and the right processes.  What you "say" has an indelible impact on your company, your brand, your investor base, and ultimately, your customers.