Early in the chapter, Bennis talks about Empathy (EQ Skill #8). Herb Alpert, the famous recording artist for A&M records) talked about empathy in reference to musicians: "One of the keys to dealing with artists is to be sensitive to their feelings and their needs, to give them their day in court so they can air their grievances or their brilliant ideas." To me, empathy means at a minimum: Listening. Going to the extra effort to understand. Caring. Making a place for an individuals' needs.
"I think one of the biggest turn-ons is for people to know their peers and particularly their bosses not only know they're there but know pretty intimately what they're doing and are involved with them on almost a daily basis, that it's a partnership, that you're really trying to run things well together, that if something goes wrong, our goal is to fix it, not see who we can nail," says former Lucky Stores CEO, Don Ritchey. (p. 149) Although, we know very well that many organizations aren't about fixing it, but about blaming and shaming. Naturally, employees digress into a "CYA" mentality = self-protection. Which type of climate do you think lends itself well to trust and productivity in teams?
Our beliefs about leadership will shape how we manage others. Do we blame? Do we feel like a partner, parent or an overlord? Do we take one for the team? Do we move into big-picture mode when there is a problem? Do we try to calm the group down so we can think clearly? Many of these actions are the result of invisible beliefs, emotions, decisions and our reactions to them.
Sydney Pollack (American filmmaker) elucidates (explains) another common management style known as "Command and Control" which uses fear to control behavior. "Up to a point, I think you can lead out of fear and intimidation, as awful as that sounds. You can make people follow you by scaring them, and you can make people follow by having them feel obligated. You can lead by creating guilt. There is a lot of leadership that comes out of fear, dependence and guilt."
Command-and-Control leadership has historically been associated with military environments in which life-and-death, quick decisions must be made. Later in the year, we will look at some other types of management styles that are more fitting and effective for mature, knowledgeable teams in business environments. There is a fine line between taking the lead and taking control. Have you mastered the art? Let's keep at it!
The chapter later shares these provocative ideas about getting people on your side (influence):
"You don't want people to follow you just because that's what they're paid for." (p. 150)
"The only power I have is the power of persuasion, or inspiration." (p. 151)
"I can have a great deal of influence just by my voice." (p. 151) Read more on using your voice for influence on page 159.
"I believe in helping people identify what they can do well and releasing them to do it." (p. 152)
"Ultimately, a leader's ability to galvanize his or her co-workers resides both in self-understanding and in understanding the co-workers' needs and wants..." (p. 155)
"They chief object of leadership is the creation of a human community held together by the work bond for a common purpose." Peter Drucker (p. 155)
On page 152, Bennis purports 4 ingredients that are required to build trust (the cornerstone of influence), with integrity being set forth as the basis of all trust. We are going to look at this idea of trustworthiness later in the year (EQ Skill #4 Trustworthiness).
Let's end on this final thought: "I think the first thing one has to do [in setting out to change culture] is get people on one's side and show them where you want to take the company. Trust is vital. People trust you when you don't play games with them, when you put everything on the table and speak honestly with them. Even if you aren't very articulate, our intellectual honesty comes through, and people recognize that and respond positively."
What stands out to you or was meaningful in this chapter? Do you have any FIGS that emerge from reading Chapters 7 & 8?
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