After many months of being actively involved in facilitating strategic level dialogues and strategic planning, I have learned the following:
First, that I agree with John Paul Lederach in his extremely, thought-provoking book, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Oxford University Press, 2005) when he wrote: “Structural history and personal biography are connected.”
What many people do not know is that I collect org charts when working with a client. I have some that are over ten years old when I sit down with a client for a visit. These charts tell me a story of past strategic choices and operational decisions. They also give me insights into what is going on.
For example, let us all remember that people bond with people before they bond with the plan. The history of who has reported to whom over time impacts their level of trust in the planning and execution of any plan, be it strategic or an operational plan to deal with COVID-19. Therefore, we must understand structural history because it is impacting people’s perspective and the stories they are telling themselves and others about what is happening now and what will happen in the future.
Second, when it comes to planning in wildly unpredictable times, we, as leaders suffer from “the fallacy of centrality.” As Robert Sutton pointed out in his article, “How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy” (Harvard Business Review, June 2009), the fallacy of centrality is based on “the assumption that because one holds a central position, one automatically knows everything necessary to exercise effective leadership.”
As he goes on to explain, the result of this fallacy is the generation of a “toxic tandem”. “People who gain authority over others tend to become more self-centered and less mindful of what others need, do, and say.” This problem “is compounded because a boss’s self-absorbed words and deeds are scrutinized so closely by his or her followers.”
From my perspective the other outcome of this fallacy is a complete lack of “contextual intelligence”. As Tarun Khanna explained in an article called “Contextual Intelligence” in the September 2014 issue of the Harvard Business Review, contextual intelligence is “the ability to understand the limits of our knowledge and to adapt that knowledge to a context different from the one in which it was acquired.”
Given the above, leaders need to address deficits in four areas as outlined by Robert Sutton in his article called “How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy” (Harvard Business Review, June 2009). They are:
Predictability: Give people as much information as you can about what will happen and when. If shocks are preceded by fair warnings, people not only have time to brace themselves but also get chances to breathe easy.
Understanding: Explain why the changes you’re implementing are necessary. Don’t assume you need to do so only once.
Control: Take a bewildering challenge and break it down into “small win” opportunities. In situations where you can’t give people much influence over what happens, at least give them a say in how it happens.
Compassion: Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Express empathy and - when appropriate - sorrow for any painful actions that have to be taken.
As Sutton points out so clearly, “People don’t embark on careers to feel powerlessness. The whole point of work is to achieve outcomes and have impact.”
Jim Mattis in his book that he co-wrote with Bing West called Call Sign Chaos: Learning To Lead (Random House, 2019) explains: “When you are engaged at the tactical level, you grasp your own reality so clearly it’s tempting to assume that everyone above you see it in the same light.” As he continues, “If you as the commander define the mission as your responsibility, you have already failed. It was our mission, never my mission.” As he concludes, “I was taught to use the concept of “command and feedback.” You don’t control your subordinate commanders’ every move; you clearly state your intent and unleash their initiative.”
This week, figure out how you are going to overcome the four deficits of predictability, understanding, control and compassion so that you can unleash the creative initiative within all of your teams.
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