Tools for a Better Workplace

This is the fourth edition of our "Better Workplace" E-letter series, a free service to our membership and website visitors that offers both philosophical foundations (principles) and helpful hints (tools and skills) for the continuous pursuit of a meaningful, productive, and enjoyable workplace.

This feature article is part of our Leadership in Action Series, entitled "The Nerve to Serve" It explores the role of leaders in organizations, encouraging service rather than heroics, fostering a facilitative and collaborative approach that often involves getting out of the way to let others lead from their strengths.

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Leadership in Action Series

The Nerve to Serve

This article calls into question some of the basic assumptions of conventional leadership: the myths that the hero leader is compatible with the modern workplace, that leaders should motivate and empower others, and that leaders are born, not made. These assumptions are simply mistakes - not in the sense that they are inconsistent with “truth” or reality (whatever you assume to be true often makes it so), but rather that there’s a much better way to go.

Although there is much to be admired in the archetype of heroic leaders - those severed from their community to accomplish difficult tasks through unfavorable odds - it is my belief that, in today’s workplaces, this approach usually backfires. Even when these courageous leaders contact and actually listen to those whom they serve, and they remember to acknowledge their contributions (or lack of interference), there’s still a dilemma.

Whether selflessly or selfishly motivated, hero leadership delivers an unintended message: “guts gets glory.” So if you hog it (the glory) a little, you probably had to make a personal sacrifice, so go right ahead. Not a good precedent. This is the gateway to resentment, violations of trust, and the need to call in expensive team-building consultants.

White Knights of the Boardroom

But when leaders get so caught up in the goal they forget to check in with the team, we experience and perpetuate a “white knight” syndrome - a “rescue us from ourselves” mentality soon follows, which unintentionally hitches up the victim/victimizer wagon. This chain link fence of dysfunction is hard to break. Indeed, if we somehow co-create a problem from which we need to be rescued, let’s not glorify the heroic acts of those few who saved us; unfortunately, that will likely give rise to more near disasters to ensure full-time hero employment. Instead, let’s seal off that option by learning something so we can cleverly avoid “going there” again.

In order to learn, people must feel safe (trust), at choice (able to make a commitment to learning) and develop awareness of what and how to make changes. Conventional notions of hero leaders do not engender such an environment. By eliminating the “thought virus” (the self-perpetuating idea) that we are to wait for hero leaders before we take personal responsibility for getting what’s wanted, we can pinpoint those traits that we would all want to emulate, and build a team that is:

How many of us learned that effective leaders motivate and empower others to serve the organization? Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? In fact, it’s a setup. If you assume your job is to motivate others, or worse, if you buy into the complaint “Your leadership doesn’t motivate me,” what does that say about who is ultimately responsible for their motivation? The assumption is that somehow you are. The same goes for empowerment. Even in the least functional organizations, people still motivate and empower themselves …. a servant leader has the ability (and the nerve) to expect people to take personal responsibility for being motivated and powerful, and offers support and serves others to make it real.

Even if someone “works for” you, they are not here to serve you, as attractive as that may be to those with situational power (due to position, rank, or title). Bear in mind that leadership comes from many people in many places, not just from the top. If we lead by simply serving others, we help create a healthy, collaborative culture that encourages others to not only motivate and empower themselves, but to take initiative - to become leaders in their own right.

Knowing When to Get Out of the Way

There will be times when serving others means backing off. Gone is the expectation that people cannot function without a being told what to do. No longer do smart leaders stand on the sidelines encouraging performance, unintentionally interfering with the desired results.

To illustrate this, I’d like to offer the story of a rather dramatic birthday party.

Golden Gate Leadership Lessons

It was May 24, 1987, the 50^th Anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. More than a quarter million people had come out that day to honor the magnificent structure. Cars were not allowed, so flocks of people arrived to occasion a walk from the Sausalito side to San Francisco and back – right down the center lane. Not surprisingly, a similar horde embarked from the San Francisco side. Innocently walking or biking across, these two groups began to collide somewhere near the middle. By noon, like two competing weather systems, thousands of people suddenly found themselves wedged into a mid-bridge entanglement … an unplanned claustrophobics convention … a seriously tight spot. I was one of them.

When you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of people all pushing against each other, going nowhere, the key is not to panic.

Excuse Me … Comin’ Through …

To this day I have no idea what law of physics was at play, but this snarl of humanity, complete with motorcycle cops, bicycles, and strollers … stayed stuck for what seemed like hours, helpless to unravel the knot that bound us. The bridge swayed and sagged under our weight. The normally convex bridge actually flattened out; some thought it was going to collapse. With all our strength, we leaned against each other in a futile attempt to burst through to the “other” side. This clearly wasn’t working. Some people’s feet left the ground as the crowd rocked and shoved. Fear and panic had begun to set in. Some yelled, a few cried; I scratched my head in amazement and felt helpless.

On the surrounding walkways, people gathered around in curiosity, occasionally trying to organize and unscramble the enmeshment. With good intentions, a few of these people assumed a leadership role, shouting instructions like: “Everyone who is going South, move to your right; everyone going North, you also move right!” Nice theory. The turmoil and confusion of the group resisted all outside influence, and recommendations were met with jeers and boos from those of us in the center, returning angry crossfire like “Clear the sidewalk, you idiot, and get out of our way!” and “ … you’re part of the problem!” or “Go home and organize your damn closet, not us!”

Release Us from Ourselves!

From a systems perspective, conflicting objectives and too much chaos caused a crisis. What would you have done?

Eventually the fear subsided and people were released from this self-made, human gridlock. I’ll never forget the sideliners trying to call the shots, actually making the problem worse through their efforts.

So, what’s the lesson in all this? Avoid walking across overcrowded bridges? Perhaps. But the lesson might also be

ü Notice where people really need help, and give it, even if that means getting out of their way, or giving them room to breathe and find their own way out of a mess.

ü Make sure we’re heading in compatible directions … but expect the unexpected.

ü Prevention is still better than cure, but when there’s nothing you can do, relax.

Let us know online at our free discussion forum.

Daniel Robin consults, coaches, facilitates groups, and leads workshops on leadership, people skills, and organizational performance improvement. See www.abetterworkplace.com for other articles, e-mail us at info@abetterworkplace.com, or call (831) 761-0700.