A New Type of Leader
My
home library is full of leadership books.
Maxwell, Collins, Godin, Yukl, and Wooden to name a few. At the end of this week another author will
be added: Stephen Denning. Reading his
(2011) book The Leader’s Guide to
Storytelling in my recent graduate class was a privilege. I just finished the last chapter aptly
titled, A Different Kind of Leader
and it ranks as one of the best chapters I’ve ever read pertaining to
character, integrity, courage…leadership.
It would serve me well to read it once a month.
At
the beginning of the chapter Denning identified six specific dimensions of his “new
leader.”
First,
the interactive leader works with the
world rather than against it. This
can be difficult for the type-A leader who wants to control and direct with
incentives and mandates. However, when
leaders look at the situation from all perspectives, they can gain a greater
clarity to the possibilities often overlooked.
Denning (2011) said, “Independent of hierarchical position and power can
be exercised from wherever you are in the organization” (p. 270).
I ran
into a similar situation as a lay leader at my last church. While I was not on
staff and held no formal title, my leadership was apparent. Every Saturday morning I held a men’s group
open to men at our church and other churches in the area. It started with eight men but grew to
50. Rather than offer support, the
pastoral staff felt threatened because a large group of men were meeting with
someone who was not being paid (and therefore, could not be controlled). This eventually led to the group’s demise since
the group met at the church. Looking
back, if the leadership at the church had realized “leadership is not in title
only,” they could have provided needed resources and benefited from the growth
of all the men.
Secondly,
interactive leadership both adds and
subtracts elements from the leadership palette. In leadership, there is no “one size fits
all” method. As a result, interactive
leaders supplement the traditional management functions of command and control
with delegation and authenticity. Interactive leadership also subtracts; removing
manipulative and intimidation behaviors. Leadership cannot be practices in a
vacuum. It is the “whole-person”
concept. As Denning (2011) stated, “It’s
not possible for leaders to exercise manipulative and spinning behavior in one
part of their conduct and expects to be accepted as open, truthful, and
trustworthy on other domains” (p. 270)
The
third dimension of an interactive leader is interactive
leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity. This is my favorite dimension. All leadership rests in this
characteristic. Denning (2011) said, “Because
you can communicate who you are and what you stand for, others come to know you
and respect you for that. Because you
speak the truth, you are believed. And,
because you make your values explicit and act in accordance with those values,
your values become contagious and others start to share them” (p. 270).
As a
minister and marriage counselor, my life is always on display. How can I tell men to unconditionally love
their wives if I am not? How can I speak
of the value of integrity and honesty if I am lying and manipulative? In short, I can’t. No one can – at least not
for very long. For example, last year my wife and I spent time with my family
in New York. During our visit, we knew
they watched how my wife and I related to one another. By the end of our three-day visit, my parents
and my brother and his wife were treating each other better. They were holding hands, helping each other,
and speaking like they had recently fallen in love. On the way home, my wife and I discussed the
power of authentic love and leadership. Our demonstrative care and respect for
one another was contagious.
The
fourth dimension of the new leader is interactive
leadership doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical authority. As stated earlier, “anyone and everyone who
can help clarify the direction or improve the structure, or secure support for
it, or offer coaching that improves performance is providing leadership”
(Denning, 2011).
Fifth,
interactive leadership benefits from an
understanding of the different narrative patterns that can be used to get
things done in the world. The
ability to use narrative depends on emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence should be mandatory reading for leaders and
managers. Too often, people in authority
look “outwardly” and never take the time to examine the motives and thoughts of
their own thinking. The strength of the
interactive leader lies in their knowledge and application of emotional
intelligence.
Lastly,
interactive leadership entails active
participation in the world rather than detached observation. Leaders cannot
be completely detached from their followers.
The “ivory tower,” us versus them mindset dividing managers from workers
must be eliminated. In the military,
many people follow orders merely because of rank. In fact, many senior non-commissioned
officers (NCO) used to tell younger airmen to do something and then tell them
it was based on Air Force regulation 6-2.
When the airman would ask, “What is reg 6-2?” the NCO would respond, “I
have six striped and you have two. Do it.”
I
often thought, if I have to tell you to do something and demand it based on my
rank or a regulation, then either you are acting utterly rebellious and
disrespectful or I haven’t led correctly.
By integrating into the lives and decisions of employees, leaders can
connect on an authentic level. When I’ve
taken action to minimize the gap between myself and my followers, we completed
the task successfully AND developed strong levels of trust and cooperation. Denning (2011) is absolutely correct when he
said, “In most leadership situations, trust, respect, and collaboration are
simply more effective than preemptive domination” (p. 271).
Legacy leads.
Steve
References:
Denning, S. (2011). The Leader’s
Guide to Storytelling. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Goleman,
D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence.
New York, NY: Random House.
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