Avoid Merit Badge Thinking
The third step to becoming a better leader is to make three specific choices at the personal and professional levels. When these three choices come together in one person, I have observed that there is a fundamental and important shift that takes place. The result of which is a kind of leadership that has the potential to become great leadership.
The first choice is to avoid merit badge thinking. I was born in the 1950’s, and I grew up in a Scouting family. My father’s father was part of Scouting. My father was part of Scouting and he achieved the highest rank of Eagle Scout. My older brother did this as well. So, when I became of age, I entered Scouting and started working my way towards becoming an Eagle Scout.
One part of becoming an Eagle Scout was to earn merit badges. The purpose of the merits badge program was to learn a variety of different subjects, such as sports, crafts, science, or the trades just to name a few of the categories, in order to determine if I wanted to pursue them further as a possible career, hobby, or vocation. To become an Eagle Scout, I needed to earn at least 21 merit badges, 14 of which were mandatory.
The interesting thing about merit badges is that they were an introduction to a subject. For example, canoeing merit badge taught me the basics about canoeing and the fundamental paddling strokes to move a canoe. I learned how to properly equip a canoe and how to canoe solo or in tandem with another individual. I learned how to pivot a canoe, stop a canoe, and turn a canoe in either direction. In essence, I had basic knowledge and understanding. Still, having completed the requirements for the merit badge, I was in no way ready or able to do advance paddling as would be required during white water canoeing. I just knew the basics.
Over the course of my career as a consultant, executive coach and trainer in the fields of leadership, strategic planning and organizational change, I have witnessed many leaders who had merit badge thinking. They would study a wide diversity of topics and learn some interesting things. But mostly, it was a course of action that generated awareness of the fundamentals, but not understanding. They knew some of the basics but, from my view point, they only knew enough to be dangerous.
The challenges of merit badge thinking is that the person learning the subject assumed at the end of their workshop or seminar that they were competent, and thus they wanted to execute on this “knowledge.” Most did not grasp that the subject they studied was an introduction. If they truly wanted to be competent in using it, this would require further in-depth study, reflection, and practice. The first choice, the one that the best leaders that I have ever met in my career did, was to commit to in-depth learning. In simple terms, they studied the subject and committed to going deeper than just the merit badge level of understanding.
For example, I taught a year long course called The From Vision to Action Leadership Training for 24 years. Comprised of four, two and a half day sessions, we studied leadership, strategic planning, and organizational change. In between sessions, we read eight books and fourteen articles, all related to these subjects.
In terms of academic content, the method of delivery was highly inefficient. The whole class could have been boiled down to series of one hour lectures over the course of a single week. The instructional method would have been simple: I talk, you take notes, and then you will understand what I know. Of course, in this format, you could become better leaders and I would be framed as a brilliant teacher. This method would have focused on the means of instruction, but it would not have achieved deep understanding. It would have been merit badge learning on steroids.
Therefore, I took a different path that included some lectures, small and large group in-class discussions, class exercises, and small group discussions about the required reading outside of the classroom. The outcome was more than academic clarity about a particular subject. The outcome was understanding, connection, and collaboration over time.
In simple terms, we were learning together and we were exploring the subjects of leadership, strategic planning, and organizational change in a manner that made us think and reflect, share and listen to each other, not just to me as the teacher. While each two and half day sessions were tiring, we did not leave drained, but instead filled at a deeper and more meaningful level of understanding. In short, over time it was transformational learning. And each year that I taught these subjects, I learned many new things that I had not known when I started many decades ago.
The best leaders I have met and observed avoid merit bade thinking, because they have a unique personal and professional operating system. Their system of living and working is not broken down into a binary perspective of done vs not done. Instead, they live their lives at home and at work from the perspective of making progress over time. The goal of their operating system is to create coherence without losing a sense of purpose. For these leaders, coherence is a process of creating and maintaining a unified whole, i.e. all of the parts of their life fit well together. In essence, their work life does not dominate their home life. Both are considered important and valuable to living a whole and healthy manner. For them, coherence and purpose are interrelated and vital to their success. For these leaders, they see the world as an opportunity to find meaning, to seek purpose, and to create time and space for continual revelation and continual in-depth learning. And this makes a profound difference as a leader and as a manager.
Engage With People
The second choice revolves around two aspects of how great leaders engage with other people. On the surface, the easy answer on engagement is that these exceptionally good leaders are approachable. Over the course of my long career, I have witnessed many leaders who were approachable. But the best leaders go one step further than approachability. The best leaders made connections and re-connections easily and thoughtfully. They wanted to know you, and they wanted you to know them.
Now all of that sounds elementary. Nearly all leaders try to be approachable, make connections, and want to get to know people. They also want those same people to know them. So, what is the first critical element of engagement that separates the best leaders from the other leaders?
From my vantage point, the key is that they asked questions and then listened very carefully. As Native American Elder Sa’k’ej Henderson said, “To listen is to risk being changed forever.” The best leaders, I have observed, are the ones who engage with others, and are willing to “risk being changed forever.” They comprehend that they actually know very little about what is happening on a day to day basis, and thus they are constantly seeking out, and being open to listening and learning more about all that is happening around others and within others. In essence, they are willing to be transformed when they listen to others. And this simple fact changes how people engage with them, and how they engage with others.
The second critical element to how they engage with others revolves around speaking with an authentic voice. Again, this appears elementary, but there is a deeper element to what creates that level of authenticity. It is one that few people notice at first, but over time, some people completely understand it.
Bishop Michael Curry explains it best when he wrote, “Don’t try to be what you ain’t.” In simple terms, the authenticity of the best leaders comes from their integrity. They choose to live a life of integrity, dignity, and honor. They choose to respect everyone, whether or not anyone is watching or noticing. This choices to always be a role model of integrity, and to always be respectful is based on clarity about life being a journey, not just a destination or reward.
Furthermore, it is an understanding that we are all part of a a highly interactive web of relationships, one that is living and constantly changing. Therefore, we need to continually build and maintain these relationships, recognizing that no one’s first job is being a senior executive. In the beginning, everyone starts at an entry level position, and works their way up to being a manager and then a leader. Grasping this journey toward leadership, the best leaders know that they are speaking and interacting with potential, future leaders. Thus, the respect they show others, and the integrity, dignity and honor they role model, results in one powerful action, namely the planting of seeds for new ideas and new perspectives. And each of these seeds has the potential to grow into trees whose shade they will never sit under. The best leaders understand that they are stewards, working together with others to create a better future for the good of all.
To be continued on Wednesday.
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