Bootstrap Leadership Blog

A few weeks ago I wrote about peer leadership; here’s another variant of the same idea, with a bit of a twist (and I admit, this one’s a little weird).  Here’s the deal - I’m fascinated by movies where a bunch of people fall victim to some kind of natural disaster or freak accident, because the story inevitably revolves around a central question of leadership: “who are these people going to follow?”  It’s fun to watch as candidates emerge for the leadership role; debates and arguments ensue, people take sides, etc.  Usually the smartest, calmest and most positive voice emerges to lead folks out of harm’s way.

So for years, whenever I was on a team of about 8-10 people, I would start daydreaming during boring staff meetings – “if we were lost at sea, or shipwrecked on a desert island, which one of us would emerge as the leader?”  Have you ever thought about this?  (Please tell me I’m not alone in making up these crazy scenarios).

Here’s what I think is fascinating – only once (in all the teams I’ve been part of) did I ever think that the current “leader” (the boss) would get to keep his or her stature if all bets were off and we were in survival mode.  Nine times out of ten, we’d have turned elsewhere for leadership.  And it’s not just that we were tired of following these people and wanted a change of pace.  It’s totally because they were the “leader” in name only – their position gave them the authority to call the shots at work, but if the organizational structure were to disappear, there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell we would have followed these people. 

What does that say about the quality of organizational leadership?  Maybe nothing – there are a lot of reasons that people climb the corporate ladder and assume top leadership roles.  But I’ve always found it to be an interesting fantasy – who in the group would emerge as the leader in a crisis, if all status were stripped away, and we all were equal?  Would it be Susie, because she’s calm and logical?  Would it be Joey?  He seems to have everyone’s respect.  Would it be you?

So here’s a fun little exercise for this week’s staff meeting.  Look around the room, and daydream about the survival/crisis leadership question.  Would the boss still be the leader on the desert island?  If yes, you’re probably working for someone pretty special.  If no, you may be looking at a leader in name only.  And if it is someone else, think about why you’d gravitate to their wisdom and stewardship.  Try to describe why you think they’d emerge as the natural leader. 

What’s the lesson in all of this?  I think it’s that leadership ultimately springs from a deep well of integrity, trust, and respect.  Any of us can be leaders, even if we’re not the boss.  Something to think about the next time your “leader” is driving you crazy - if you could just get the whole team to a desert island…

As you know, business today is extremely competitive. In order to survive, you need to know the language of business, which is filled with unique terms and phrases that you need to learn if you want to join the conversation. So let's take a moment to work on your development, shall we? Let's spend some time helping you to continuously improve, and get creative about how you add value. What follows is my advice, my counsel, my mentoring around learning the language of business.

A word of caution though - I can explain this to you, but I can't understand it for you... you have to take responsibility, exude accountability and dedicate yourself to execution, or you'll fall short of the goal. And that would be bad, as you'd be missing the mark and under-performing, and we might have to have a difficult conversation, take action, put you on a plan, manage you out or help you transition out of your role. That is if we don't reassign you or put you into redeployment, or reassess your contribution. You have to understand, we're just managing our resources, so we can maximize our human capital and capitalize on our revenue and growth opportunities. So don't assume that you're not looking at this the right way. I'm just offering a competing point of view, looking through a different lens, and trying to work backwards from the answer.

At the end of the day, you need to get aligned on the language of your company. You need to capture the synergies and strive for outperformance when you engage in the dialog. Be sure to calibrate yourself, and manage expectations, because others are looking to streamline your feedback and achieve a paradigm shift. If you can offer alternatives, and provide some perspective, others can focus on results, think outside the box, and produce some early wins. Be sure to manage conflict, however, or people will lose work-life balance, and that will not be a measure of success that you'll cite as a best practice. How can you innovate, on time and on budget, to produce the strategic thinking that others will utilize to produce project outcomes that will have clear metrics that demonstrate a win-win for everyone?

Last time I checked, learning to talk "corporate" boosts your executive presence, demonstrates that you're buttoned up, and sends a clear message that you are looking for a competitive advantage. If we were to plot you on a nine-box, we'd see that you've been achieving your potential, and working off the side of your desk to create a deck that reveals a rigorous burning platform. You're in sync with the culture, and understand that how you speak has everything to do with motivating, empowering, and engaging your people. It's not just about coaching others to take their game to the next level, it's about extending your own mojo beyond your sphere of influence, so you can help others get out of their comfort zone and step up to operationalize their unique contribution.

There is a lot of synergy to be gained by collaborating with your teammates on a common language - who knows, you might even win the war for talent in the process. You'd better understand the international landscape, however, or you'll miss an opportunity to beat the competition with a business model that builds customer loyalty and increases your brand and global footprint. In the end, it's about bringing others with you and investing in your people, who, after all, are you most important asset. It's about building a pyramid of focus that is unmatched by those who might seek to copy your position or outflank you in the court of public opinion. It's about winning in the marketplace, being # 1 or # 2 in your industry, and making it all about the customer.

It's not about you, it's about the language. So get with the program, start driving for results, and be a team player. It's funny, because when it's all said and done, more is said than done. And what's not to like about that?

Last year, I joined my brother Scott and three (new) friends – Doug, Paul and Rob – on a weekend climb of Mt. Baker, in northwest Washington.  Aside from a great experience (we reached the 10,778 foot summit and returned safely), I took away several leadership lessons that reminded me of how often leadership translates to everyday life. 

# 1 – Leadership starts with credibility.  All of us have successful resumes in the real world, but when it comes to climbing, Rob had the most knowledge and experience, and therefore was the clear choice to be expedition leader.  On all climbing related decisions, we followed his direction and deferred to his judgment.  Without question, this made the climb easier and less stressful.

# 2 – The team needs shared goals and mutual accountability.  While we were all focused on the same goal (reaching the summit), we clearly understood the main objective – getting back down the mountain safely.  Every decision was made with the safety in mind, and we shared responsibility for each other’s well-being on the rope.  Perhaps it was being literally roped together for 10 hours, but we were all keenly aware of the concept of “team” throughout the climb.

# 3 – Leaders need to be flexible, and listen to feedback.  Rob did a wonderful job of making judgment calls as weather or snow conditions changed, and was receptive to feedback throughout the climb.  At one point Doug and Scott made a route suggestion on our downhill trek that Rob quickly accepted, and at all times he “listened” to the tension on the rope from weary climbers (OK, that was mostly me) to take a breather at times.  The rope, in fact, was a beautiful metaphor for feedback, teamwork, signals for assistance, and shared accountability.  When you’re literally hooked together as a team, you don’t have much choice but to cooperate and support one another!

# 4 – It takes mental and physical energy to succeed.   Leaders need to be in tune with their teams regarding both mental and physical energy.  In this case, our task was mostly physical – waking at 12:30 am to head for the summit in the dark, climbing non-stop for nearly 10 hours, ascending and descending 14,200 total feet in 28 hours on little sleep, etc.  But the real challenge was controlling emotions and staying focused mentally – in fact, it helped to make much of the final push in the dark with just our headlamps, as it kept us focused on “one step at a time” (another metaphor for short-term wins).  Again, we all did a great job of keeping each other’s spirits and positive energy high. 

# 5 – Nothing beats accomplishing a goal with others.   Had one of the team not summitted, we wouldn’t have approached the excitement and satisfaction we felt that morning.  The fact that we put everything aside for the team, sharing equipment, food and energy, and helping each other to the top made the experience one to remember for all of us.  Accomplishing a challenging goal with others is what leadership is all about. 

I’ll take away some awesome memories of this weekend – but the biggest is the power of teamwork.  If you get a team of people together who really want to help each other succeed, there’s almost nothing you can’t do!