Strong Leaders - Follow
The room was swallowed by immediate silence. You could hear a pen drop - and several did as some in the room stopped taking notes and shifted their attention from the seasoned Executive V.P. at the front of the room to the young intern who had just called him out for his response to a question. They quickly looked back to the V.P. to see how he would digest such sharp criticism. Time seemed to stop as the room waited for his response...
There is a romantic vision we like to carry of leaders - That they are always out in front, leading the charge. Barking out orders and controlling every organizational machination with military-like precision.
But in practice, Leadership rarely looks like this. Rarely (especially in today's rapidly evolving landscape) does a leader have all of the time, knowledge, skills, and temperaments required to successfully lead from the front in every situation.
More often than not, Strong Leaders have learned how to follow, deferring to trusted members on their team whose skills and insights exceed their own in a given context. In my last post I shared how strong leaders "wear the feathered cap" to draw fire away from their team in times of conflict. In this post, I am going to suggest that those same strong leaders also know how to follow others when it matters the most.
So what does it take for a leader to follow? Remarkable Humility.
-It takes humility to hire professionals who are smarter and more skilled than you are.
-It takes humility to let those professionals shine and receive the credit that they are due.
-It takes humility to admit when you are wrong or you don't know the answer.
-And it takes remarkable humility to follow others when you have the organizational power or authority to insist on doing things your own way.
This is exactly the type of remarkable humility we saw in Wayland Hicks, the Executive VP of Xerox described in the opening paragraph of this post when he was confronted by Ursula Burns, then an intern, over an answer he gave regarding diversity in the workplace. Ursula called Hicks to the carpet in front of an entire room of Xerox employees.
What do you think happened next? What would many leaders have done?
Wayland didn't retaliate. He didn't yell. He didn't demand Ursula's resignation. Instead, he called Ursula into his office on Friday to say "I thought about what you said, and you're right. I didn't answer that question well. But I think that you may have handled that situation a bit differently as well." Wayland eventually extended an opportunity to Ursula to become his executive assistant which led to a lifelong friendship and collaboration between the two - an opportunity that eventually propelled Burns into the CEO position for Xerox.
Wayland Hicks was a Strong Leader, humble enough to follow the thoughts and suggestions of a young intern who understood the topic of diversity at a level that he recognized within himself, that he never could, and he chose to follow her thought leadership on the topic.
This is the kind of humility displayed by leaders who know how to follow well; and by following when it matters the most, they in turn lead well.
And it is these types of leaders who get the best out of their team - by hiring competent and trustworthy people, providing a North Star to focus and guide them, and then letting them execute their craft.
What are some areas where you aren't listening well? What are some things you need to do internally to allow your team to take the reins in areas unfamiliar to you?
Where do you need to lead by following?