Leadership
is a serious meddling in the lives of others, states Max de
Pree in Leadership Jazz (my edition was published in 1991. ISBN 1 86350 101 0)
Reflecting
on some of the more recent literature on leadership, and the many contributions
on social media to the discussion, I find myself continually drawn back to de
Pree and his engaging narrative.
In
his final chapter, he tells a story of arriving at his tennis club after a
group of high school student had vacated the change rooms, and without thinking
he started to collect up the towels abandoned by the students and putting them
in a hamper. A friend observing this
asked: “Do you pick up the towels because you’re the president of a company,
or are you the president because you pick up the towels?
The
following are reflections by de Pree on what traits and qualities, besides picking
up the towels, that “qualify us to accept the job of leadership?” He
contends that: Leadership is a position of
servanthood. Leadership is also a posture of debt; it is a forfeiture of
rights. You see! One quality of leadership implies another, where does one stop. Here is his list (paraphrased in several
places).
INTEGRITY: The
leader works publicly. Behaviour is the only score that is kept. Lose integrity
and a leader will find herself in a directionless organisation going nowhere.
VULNERABILITY: The opposite of self-expression. Vulnerable
leaders trust in the abilities of other people; vulnerable leaders allow the
people who follow them to do their best. Otherwise you are only as good as your
own performance. One caveat: there is no safe vulnerability.
Discernment: Lies somewhere
between wisdom and judgement. Leaders are required to see many things – pain,
beauty, anxiety, loneliness and heartbreak. Two elements to keep your eye on:
the detection of nuance and the perception of changing reality. What kind of antennae
do you have?
Awareness
of the human spirit: You need to understand the cares, yearnings and
struggles of the human spirit. In organisation speak – person skills always
precede professional skills.
Courage
in relationships: Followers expect a leader to face up to tough
decisions. When conflict must be resolved, when justice must be defined and
carried out, when promises need to be kept, when the organisation needs to hear
who counts – these are the times when leaders act with ruthless honesty and
live up to their covenant with the people they lead.
Sense
of humour: Sometimes the best humour is deadly serious. A
compassionate sense of humour requires a broad perspective on the human
condition – and accountability from many viewpoints it is essential to living
with ambiguity.
INTELLECTUAL ENERGY
AND CURIOSITY: If you lead you
have opportunities to consistly learn from your people. Leadership is learning
frantically. And learning from them allows them to achieve. When followers are
allowed to do their best, they make leadership infinitely easier, and you’re
free to learn even more. A wonderful cycle, don’t you think?
Respect
for the future, regard for the present, understanding of the past: Leaders
move constantly back and forth between the present and future. Our perspective
of each becomes clear and valid if we understand the past. The future requires our
humility in the face of all we cannot control. The present requires attention
to all the people to whom we are accountable. The past gives us the opportunity
to build on the work of our elders.
Predictability: To
their followers, leaders owe predictability as a human being. This differs from
predictability in strategic planning or decision-making, something leaders also
should pursue. Leaders must be calculable forces in organisations; they are not
free to follow a whim. Attending a vision/purpose is as difficult as conceiving
one.
Breadth: A
vision of what an organisation can become as room for all contributions from
all quarters. Leaders are people large enough to contain of multitudes.
Comfort
with ambiguity: “Leader”
is not always a position. Whatever one’s position, the amount of ambiguity is
directly proportional to the amount of leadership required. Healthy
organisations exhibit a degree of chaos. A leader must make sense of some of
it. The more comfortable you can make yourself with ambiguity, the better you
will be. Organisations always delegate the job of dealing consistently with
ambiguity to their leaders.
Presence: The
ability to stop is an important trait of leaders. Leaders stop – to ask and
answer questions to be patient to listen to problems, to seek the nuance, to
follow up a lead. Leaders quietly and openly wait for information, good and
bad, that enables them to lead.
“Leaders stand-alone, take the heat,
bear the pain, tell the truth.”
Ends
