A Leadership Fable

Over the years, as I've progressed through various organizations and leadership roles I have had the opportunity to learn from and experience (directly and indirectly) the different styles that individual managers and leaders have brought to their roles.  Now, as an executive coach, I have had more opportunity to hear about either the challenges or inspiration that leaders bring to their followers on a daily basis.  More than ever what astounds me are those leaders that believe in the use of an iron hand, an unyielding adherence to "the rules" and even outright intimidation tactics with the expectation that this will somehow result in positive results - for their business units and/or themselves.

I'll admit that an early stage of my career, when I was inexperienced and learning a lot of lessons the hard way, it was quite convenient and reassuring to fall back on my title and authority as CEO and enforce discipline, mandate compliance with my directions, and otherwise suppress dissent.  It seemed easier to fall back on such authority when experience and knowledge were lacking, while pride and fear were at a premium.  As I've said many times since that first leadership role in particular with the benefit of 20+ more years of experience and the opportunity to learn from others, I'm amazed my board of directors at the time didn't fire me in my first year.  I can't say that I would have been as generous with my learning curve as they proved to be.

This reflection has been prompted by the current (ongoing?) experience of my peers and clients as they continue to manage in environments that don't exactly inspire and motivate.  As individual leaders themselves or as front line staff they have described too many of their bosses as draconian, manipulative, untrustworthy, and sometimes just downright mean.  Without a doubt there is method to this madness.  I've seen and experienced this type of leadership before.  The intent is to keep others off balance, reduce confidence of team members or colleagues who might otherwise present some sort of challenge, and to otherwise maintain or advance the career aspirations of themselves.  At the very least the intent is to ensure that the weakness of the boss doesn't see the light of day or establishes the basis by which someone else (e.g., a direct report, another division) can be blamed for lack of performance.

But surely there is a more rational and less destructive way to achieve one's leadership aims.  And there is.  Humility and self-awareness are good starting points!  Moreover, this is not just as a result of a new leadership theory that has come to light and been marketed in bookstores and business schools around the world.  Rather, there is a leadership fable that establishes the basis for learning if we are prepared to heed its lessons.  It goes as follows...

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger.  Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said:  "I see a way to decide our dispute.  Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger.  Given to bluster, the Wind demanded to go first, so the Sun retired behind a cloud and the Wind began to blow.  As the Wind blew the traveller pulled his cloak tighter about himself and hunched lower so as to be able to continue making progress.  The Wind redoubled his efforts, summoning all his strength, but to no avail.  The harder the Wind blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak around him till at last the Wind was spent and gave up in despair.  Of course, the Wind suggested that the Sun give up as well as the cause was obviously hopeless.  The Sun smiled and thanked the Wind for his concern, but came out from behind the cloud nonetheless.  He let his rays fall down upon the traveller and gradually the warming heat became too much for the traveller who took off his cloak and  proceeded to walk upright and happily on towards his destination.  The Wind for all its effort and bluster had been defeated by the quiet glory of the Sun.

Could the "leadership" of the Wind prevailed given more time, energy or resources? Quite possibly.  None of us can personally sustain the kind of battering that can come from a hurricane and such a storm definitely makes its mark.  Even the strongest of us can eventually be beaten down.  We remember and remark on such storms for years to come, but mostly for the destruction it wreaked on the lives of those it impacted.  Not necessarily the kind of legacy we as leaders would aspire to - I hope.  Interestingly enough, if we take the analogy further, we sometimes do see some positives from these destructive storms/leaders as people band together to survive or recover from the experience.  In contrast, I warrant that we do aspire to be more Sun-like once we have had the ability to work with and be led by someone that shone their light on us, allowed us the freedom to work and grow, and ensured that the journey to our goal was spent enjoyably and productively. 

So as a follower you can choose to be battered by your personal Wind-like leader on a daily basis.  You might even look to others to pick up the pieces for you or even put their own cloak around you until the latest gale passes. You can choose to pick up the pieces of your work life each day and rebuild as we typically do after the tempest has struck once again.  Or perhaps today, or tomorrow, you make a different and harder choice, to either stand up and hold on to your cloak and stand for what you believe in or to pull up stakes and move to a different, less disaster-prone environment that allows your "home" to be built on more solid foundation.  And make no mistake, those are hard choices to make for anyone particularly when you feel invested in your work and those you have worked with for some time.

As a leader, you too clearly have a choice as to whether you lead like the Wind or the Sun.  Do you wish to be feared for your destructive power or do you wish to be respected for the positive environment you can create?  Both can be effective in their own way.  The question is whether you can sustain the effort required under either regime, how concerned you are with building a truly engaged team, whether you can achieve desired results when you are not realizing the potential of your team (or constantly rebuilding it), and how other more powerful forces might start to perceive your "success" over time.

And there always is a more powerful storm than the last one...
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.