Shifting
Leadership – No More Charade
The charade is this –
leaders who should know how to address organizational issues don’t know, yet
they pretend they do (Obolensky, 2014). At the same time, lower level employees
know how to address the issues, but they refuse to speak up when it really
matters, turning their suggestions into watercooler gripes instead (Obolensky,
2014). However, Obolensky argued that a shift in leadership is taking place,
and this is evidenced by the growing number of complex adaptive leaders in the
workforce. Complex adaptive leaders are open to open communication, suggestions
from the bottom, and even being challenged on their strategies if such challenges
are backed by thoughtful evidence.
So, why don’t all managers behave
as complex adaptive leaders? One reason may be due to the fact that employees
generally hold their leaders more accountable today than they ever have before
(Obolensky, 2014). The business environment is changing rapidly and all of this
makes it increasingly difficult for leaders to maintain the reputation that
they know it all. Employees today have higher expectations and they often have instant
access to answers as a result of increased advancement in technology and smart
devices (Obolensky, 2014). These expectations may reduce the confidence of
certain leader, which makes them more defensive and less willing to collaborate
with employees below him or her.
The shift towards a more
collaborative leadership style is happening because businesses simply can’t
afford for their leaders to ignore the real organizational problems anymore. “We
live in an era of risk and instability,” where companies are failing daily and
new entrants are lurking around every corner (Reeves & Deimler, 2011). This
complex business environment requires that leaders embrace adaptability and
utilize every resource possible in order to propel the organization towards
success. Some of the companies most valuable resources are the lower level
employees who, studies show, know most of the solutions to organizational
problems but aren’t motivated to share them. This shift in leadership styles
brings forward leaders who can adapt to unexpected changes and who value
collaboration. Business leaders recognize these traits as critical attributes
in today’s complex environment.
Is the
Shift Indicative of My Organization?
My organization is undergoing
a lot of change because of a very significant number of retirements over the
past few months. At this point, we have at least five executive retirements out
of a group of only 15 or so executive positions - and none of them have been
backfilled. This means there will be a major change in personnel throughout the
organization in the coming months. If the trend in my organization continues, I
expect to see much younger employees promoted into executive leadership
positions, as there was also a large push to promote the younger generation 3-5
years ago.
With retirements of senior employees
and promotions of young up-and-comers, one might assume a more complex adaptive
leadership style will penetrate the organization. Oddly enough, this hasn’t exactly been the
case. Many of the leaders who have taken the reigns over the past few years are
trained to behave in exactly the same top-down manner as their predecessor.
Several young leaders have joined the executive ranks and have immediately walled
themselves off from active communication with the workforce. In many ways, the
new leaders are more traditional than the 60+ year old leaders who are finally hanging
up their hats. But why is this happening?
I believe it’s a combination
of things, starting with the fact that several of these new managers learned
how to lead by closely following and emulating the behaviors of the senior
managers that mentored them throughout their career. According to Berkun
(2009), younger managers are difficult to work for because “a boss they admired was an a**hole [and] in
trying to emulate someone more powerful than themselves, they didn’t separate
the good qualities from the bad.” Another factor at play is the potential insecurities
these younger leaders feel when they are put into a position that fills the
shoes of someone who was much more experienced than them. Many leaders simply
thrive on the feeling of being more powerful than others, and this feeling may
be exacerbated for younger leaders who manage their people their own age, but
also manage employees who are older and more experience. Berkun (2009)
describes this as relying “on their guns, not their minds, which enslaves the
people who work for them out of using their minds either.”
3 Reasons
to Support or Refute the Position
With all of that said, there
are a handful of leaders who have recently been promoted into executive
management roles and who are doing their best to break the charade. Three
executives that I interact with regularly, Joe, Jen, and Kate, have completely
changed the way traditional leaders in my organization behave.
Kate, for example, is highly
engaging with the working team – rewarding strong performance with positive
feedback and appreciation. In addition, she isn’t afraid to change tasks around
within the team and constantly “seeks out the best fit possible between members’
skills and the tasks that need doing” (How to Lead, 2009). Kate is smart and assertive, but also willing
to listen and then ask thoughtful questions. When she doesn’t know how to solve
a problem, she encourages a more interactive discussion with the work group, offering
statements like “here’s what I think, what about you?” (Obolensky, 2014). Kate
truly highlights Obolensky’s (2014) challenge and support approach to breaking
the charade.
Joe is one of the most
knowledgeable leaders I have ever interacted with, and somehow my interactions
with him always leave me feeling as if I have in some way made him think about
something in a way he hadn’t thought about it before. This is because Joe is
the exact opposite of a leader who plays the leadership charade. The historical
leadership charade leaves leaders pretending to know the answer to something
when they really don’t, because they don’t have the humility to admit they’re
unsure (Obolensky, 2014). When Joe doesn’t know something, he says “I am not
sure” and almost always suggests “let’s see if we can find out.” Rather than research for the solution to the
problem so than he can come back and impart his newfound wisdom on the group,
Joe takes the person with a problem on the hunt for answers with him. Joe isn’t
afraid to learn something new, even if he’s learning it at the same time as
someone who works at a lower level within the organization. Joe is an expert at
utilizing Obolensky’s (2014) “I don’t know” approach.
Finally, Jen always starts a
meeting by asking how things are going. She asks if there are problems she can
help solve, and requests to get involved in the work if, and only if, someone
needs help. She thinks very systematically, meaning she avoids “plunging right
into the topic at hand” and instead observes the situation, listens, and asks
meaningful questions (How to Lead, 2009). Shortly after a large group of new people
started in the organization, Jen took it upon herself to set up weekly question
and answer sessions, where employees could ask for her guidance and she could
ask for their impressions and suggestions as well. Jen is clearly a master at utilizing
Obolensky’s (2014) “dynamic question and answer session” approach to breaking
the leadership charade.
Although leaders like Kate,
Joe, and Jen are clearly exhibiting qualities of complex adaptive leadership,
it’s difficult to call their behaviors the start of a shifting trend just yet.
I believe my organization is slower to adopt the ideas of Obolensky’s Finite La
Comedia, but I have hope that it is moving in the right direction based on the
actions of these three great leaders. At this point in time, the leadership
trend in my organization is confusing at best. I attribute this confusion to
the incredible amount of change that has taken place all over the company.
There is an obvious shift in the strategy at my company, which has been
discussed in previous blog posts. This, paired with the growing number of
retirees and rotation in executive leadership makes it hard to pinpoint exactly
where the leadership shift is headed. I predict that all of this activity will
start to settle towards the beginning of 2018, and it will be fascinating to
study the state of the organization and its leaders between now and then.
Resources
Berken,
S. (2009). Top 10 reasons managers become assholes. [Web log comment]. Retrieved
from http://scottberkun.com/2009/top-ten-reasons-managers-become-assholes/
How
to Lead When You're Not the Boss. (2009). Harvard Management Update, 14(3), 1-2.
Obolensky,
N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty (2nd
ed.). New York, New York: Gower Publishing.
Reeves, M., &
Deimler, M. (2011). Adaptability: the new competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, 89(7/8),
134-141.
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