An abject failure of Leadership

The intention of this Blog is not to make political points and I hope that I can walk the tightrope between using a political situation as a metaphor, without making a political point.

Last weekend “leaders” of the United States of America rejected a bail out deal for the financial markets, leaving their own and other global financial markets in a state of unhealthy uncertainty.  The vote was split approximately 52% to 48%.

I do not profess to understand enough detail about the package to offer judgement as to which side was right or not, but it is the process and the outcome that I would suggest is an abject failure of Leadership.

The reasons given for denying the bill by many was that their email inboxes were full of mail from voters who thought that the bill should be rejected.  It is worth noting that with an election only a few weeks away, the opinions of voters seem to carry considerable weight.  But is that “leadership”?

I fully accept that leaders in all organisations should listen to their “constituents” indeed such listening is very much a demonstrable quality of leadership.  It is what you then do with what you have heard and the courageousness of the subsequent decisions that truly mark you out as a leader.

Many others rejected or supported the bill based on long held ideological dogma.

But perhaps the most important question is how do people feel at a time of great uncertainty when they see their leaders totally split about what to do for the best?

A few weeks ago we hosted an event at the Institute of Directors in London and invited a group of Maasai to share their wisdom about leadership with business leaders from the UK.  One of the questions that they were asked was “how should leaders act at times of uncertainty or hardship?”

Their answer was simple and compelling.

The first job of leaders at such times is to get into the community and create a sense of hope that like other times of difficulty in the past, this time will end and better times will follow.  There is always a tomorrow.

At the same time as doing this, they are listening to the thoughts and feelings of the people within the community and building agreement that they must be given the time to make the right decision.

With this agreement in place they consult widely, with humility, to ensure that they gather all of the possible wisdom that is available, irrespective of whether or not the people that they consult come from the same position or not.  Indeed they recognise that a diversity of opinions will probably ensure that a better decision is made.

Once they have gathered all of the wisdom, it is their responsibility to make a courageous decision, after all anyone can take the “easy” option and leaders are expected to be courageous.  These courageous decisions will often involve challenging long held views, ideology and dogma, because without that challenge, change is not possible.

Finally the must get out into the community and explain the decision to people face to face and explain what people can do to make the decision come to life. At this time they must show a totally unified stance, because to do otherwise will cause confusion and re-ignite fear.

If you think about it is a highly accountable process.

As I thought about this, I questioned “did the leaders in the US have the time to consult broadly and take a courageous decision since events seemed to move so quickly?”  But of course they did since this situation has been developing for 18 months, it did not start in the week of the 22^nd of September!

But metaphors are only helpful if you apply them to your own field of experience.

In recent weeks, linked to the changing financial situation, several businesses have been making people redundant and as I listen to my colleagues and contacts I find that in very many cases the leaders have ducked the issue, delegating the task to their own HR team or even external HR consultants.

They have not had the courage to face their own people and explain the hard decisions that have been taken.  This, despite the fact, that they have been happy enough to accept the rewards of leadership for many years.

I wonder what that does to the respect that they command from those who are leaving and equally from those who still have a job and will be expected to perform in the future?  What will be the impact on employee engagement and loyalty?

It is in the challenging times that true leaders step forward and do courageous things; it is at times such as these that they earn the right to lead and the right to receive the rewards of leadership.

What are you doing within your organisation to:

• Create a sense of hope?
• To seek agreement that you should be given time to make the right decisions?
• To consult widely with all possible sources of wisdom?
• To be courageous in you decision-making?
• To ensure that every member of your community not only understands the decision but can act upon it?

Equally importantly, what are you doing with your next generation of leadership to develop that quality of courage?