Leadership Isn’t Always the Answer
For some, the suggestion that leadership can’t solve all problems is hearsay. Sure, leadership is a mighty tool. Yet in the practical, day-to-day sense, leadership is not always what is needed. And, yes, sometimes it can (gasp) get in the way.
Before you dive right in with your comments, let me illustrate with an example.
A number of years ago, I was responsible for leading a major process and technology transformation project. The investment was ginormous, the impact was industry leading, and the risk of failure was huge. To establish a clear direction, we quickly established a powerful vision—the “why’ of the initiative—borrowing from President Kennedy’s Moon speech with this language:
“We choose to go to the moon [what we called our “moonshot”]… not because it is easy, but because it is hard … because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
Inspirational? Yes. We presented a vision of the future others wanted to join. That is leadership. Big check in that box. Then, off we went.
And then… the wheels (“rockets” is probably the right metaphor) fell off.
Despite our compelling vision, we bungled, thrashed, and limped along. The initiative’s most prominent features were tension, disagreements, and lots of unbudgeted time and money. The trouble? It certainly wasn’t our vision. We had that in spades. When we encountered trouble, we went right to it: “To the moon!” we screamed. Lots of vision; lots of leadership. And that was the trouble. We didn’t need that. We needed something else.
The vision gave us a clear “why.” What we didn’t have was a clear “what” and “how” -- What I call management and coaching. Management is about accountability and results. And coaching is about moving individuals past barriers for greater impact. What we were doing was trying to fix management and coaching issues with vision—a.k.a. leadership.
All three approaches— leadership, management, and coaching—must work together, at different times and with different people. Each can require deployment at any time and with any team member. So how do you know which one is the barrier? Ask good questions and LISTEN.
Leadership – Best used when the team or individual needs to know (or has lost track of) the “why.” Questions to ask: What’s motivating you? What do you see as the benefit to you in this project? If the answer is a shrug or blank stare, then it is likely a leadership issue. Talk about why the “moon shot” will create a desirable future FOR THEM. Connect with their own vision.
Management – Best deployed when an individual is not clear on “what” needs to be delivered (and/or when). Questions to ask: What is your role in the project? Do you know what you’re accountable to deliver? If the team member doesn’t know what they are supposed to deliver, then management is the problem. Communicate clear expectations and hold them accountable for results.
Coaching – Best deployed when an individual is stuck not knowing “how” to overcome the gap between where they are and where they need to be. Questions to ask: How can you impact success of this project? What new ideas do you have to create results? If they answer with a litany of excuses or recite the “blame game,” then coaching offers a solution.
We all have our “go-to” approach. It is usually one of these three (I tend to go “all vision” all the time). What about you? Knowing when to pull out your go-to approach (and when to not) may be the difference between achieving your “moon shot” …or continually orbiting the earth with no landing in site.
Some video resources and acknowledgements:
Start with Why (Simon Sinek)
What Great Teams do Great (Humanergy)
Thanks to Denise Stein for originally introducing me to the L/M/C model
