Would Your Employees Describe Your Leadership as a Gift?
Is your leadership type one that your team inspires to, looks forward to, grows from, builds their trust in… meet Jan, a gift.
I dedicate this first personal article on Presents of Leadership to Jan. Jan’s gift was allowing me to explore and actively grow an entrepreneurial side of my career. I will write more about Jan in my article on risk-taking (both her part and mine). Jan exhibited “airmanship” ~ an intricate insight of leadership and to her I am indebted. Thank you, Jan.
Presents of Leadership, Part 1: Leadership and Management
In the aftermath of the Boeing 737 Max tragedies, I read an excellent article in The New York Times Magazine comparing the difference between classroom piloting and airmanship.
“Airmanship,” the author wrote, “includes a visceral sense of navigation, an operational understanding of weather and weather information, the ability to form mental maps of traffic flows, fluency in the nuance and wings. Put in other terms, airmanship goes beyond the perfunctory process of piloting an aircraft. Not everyone who pilots an aircraft can be said to practice airmanship.”
Do you want to fly with a pilot who has only “read about flying” or someone with experience? So, too, it is with leadership. Not everyone who manages a department can be said to be a leader.
Holding a position of leadership does not in and of itself make one a leader. We’ve heard of Presence of Leadership as a practice that separates leaders from managers. These include being physically near your staff, motivation, inspiration, connecting, communicating, making an impact, and so forth.
But how do those we manage to feel about our presence? Does our presence make a positive difference, a negative difference, or no difference at all? In terms of leadership, are you a pilot or an airman? Do you work for a ‘pilot’ or an ‘airman? The answer may surprise you. How do you feel about where you’re heading?
‘Miracle on the Hudson’ pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger understood airmanship when he safely glided his Airbus from his years of experience, training, and being a glider pilot onto the Hudson River when the engines on the plane he was piloting quit. British Airways pilot, Captain Mark Vanhoenacker, describes this difficult definition of pilotage in his book, Skyfaring. He writes,
“Flight is the cartographic, planetary equivalent of hearing a song covered by a singer you love, or meeting for the first time a relative whose features or mannerisms are already familiar. We know the song but not like this; we have never met this person, and yet we have never in our lives been strangers. Airplanes raise us above the patterns of streets, forests, suburbs, schools, and rivers. The ordinary things we thought we knew become new or more beautiful, and the visible relationships between them on the land, particularly at night, hint at the circuitry of more or less everything.”
So, too, is the present of your leadership or those who view their leadership role as such.
Presence is so much more than being “present.” I know managers who are “present” daily but not engaged. And, yet, especially in today’s world of Covid-19 and work isolation, there are many managers remote from their teams who are very “present.” Yes, being physically present is essential, but being present for your team, physically or not, is the game-changer.
The Present: Your maturity as a leader, over time, drives productivity, job safety, and career success to those entrusted. (Definitely Jan)
Presence — Guiding vs. Micromanaging
Like leadership, the wrapping and the gift box are not what is essential to a present. More so, what is important is the intent and purpose of the giver.
Most new managers are excited (or afraid), and their past experiences determine their managerial style.
I was grateful for the leadership where I worked, excellent or insufficient. I was grateful (and pained) to learn from mistakes (both my manager’s and my own) and those who were not critical but complementary. There is something to be said about taking on a new management role or bringing on a new manager and anticipating what leadership they will bring.
The books Five-Minute Manager, Measure What Matters, and 1776 are good examples of interacting with those who work under your management. Setting clear objectives, focusing on the job to be done, the results, and ensuring your team members feel a sense of safety are presents of leadership.
I have worked at companies where my manager insisted on copying leaders on all emails, were present at nearly all meetings, repeatedly changed decisions (making it impossible to move forward on a project), and followed me around the office.
The worst-case scenario is the manager who is critical of their team and superior, those who instill fear, dread, and cause separation between their team members. This form of presence is death to a culture.
The Present: How do your teams feel at work, not every day, but generally? Are they passive and checked out? Or do they feel safe, engaged, and innovative?
Authenticity is More Than Skin-Deep
Have you ever received a Trojan gift? Something like a big box present that was something small? Or a little box that was substantial? How about boxes inside of boxes that make finding the gift complex? Poorly wrapped boxes? Boxes with a large announcement? Intricately wrapped boxes? Gifts in bags? A hastily written note card? A thoughtful and meaningful note card that meant more than the gift? I have — all of these.
And, I’ve seen managers who exhibit the same behaviors. Understated sometimes. Sometimes, overstated. Nicely dressed and dressed-down daily. Coifed and disheveled. Or, their presence is a present. I love that kind of boss.
Bob Iger’s recent book, Ride of a Lifetime, describes authenticity as genuine and honest, not faking anything. Truth and authenticity breed respect and trust. He reveals that these principles are necessary for authentic leadership: optimism, curiosity, courage, integrity, focus and respect, risk-taking, fairness, and the importance of embracing change rather than living in denial of it.
I received Ride of a Lifetime the day its release date. I employ leadership lessons born from authentic leadership experiences. How does one CEO lead several multi-billion dollar companies through economic ups and downs, industry challenges, accidents and still make them sought after work places? We will tackle each of these traits in this and subsequent articles.
Authenticity comes from your core. Indeed, what is in you will find its way out, and your real character is displayed. If these leadership traits are missing in your department or company, it is past time to honestly question your work there.
The present is unwrapped.
The Present. If you don’t have respect and trust in your organization, work backward to ensure you are exhibiting truth and authenticity.
