Being a speaker, I am often asked/ expected/encouraged to talk about issues of management and leadership. Since I know so little about such things, I have gone out and observed others who seem to be experts on these topics.
Now I am certainly not an expert on leadership or management, but I have done a fair amount of managing and leading. Also I have been managed and led by fabulous leaders and managers, as well as by grossly incompetent ones. So, I can’t claim to be an “expert,” but I am discovering that no one else really is either, so here goes:
There is a common practice these days of talking about leadership in rather vague grandiose idealistic terms. It’s almost like leadership is a condiment. “Let’s spread some leadership on this problem.” There’s a lot of talk about reaching for the stars and establishing high ideals and stuff like that. Sounds great, and it seems to sell tickets to management training seminars, but as a follower in the back of the bass section I have to tell you, this stuff really isn’t all that effective. We used to get conductors all the time who were the products of such schools of thought, and we always just rolled our eyes and played it the same way we always did. These leaders rarely noticed any difference, as they were so wrapped up in themselves and following their seminar to-do list of tips and tricks.
I think the one thing people who suddenly find themselves in positions of real power and authority miss out on is this simple fact of professional life: If you have power to hire and fire, the people that you can hire and fire are watching you like hawks. Every move you make is seen through the lens of “how does this impact my income?” You don’t need to say much. Every subtle little movement is dissected endlessly.
All the idealistic window dressing you may present to us is, well, . . . we don’t ignore it exactly. We know that, when that stuff comes out of your mouth, we are obliged to eagerly nod our heads and concur like mad and tell you how inspired we are . . . and once you seem satisfied with the ritual, we go back to business as usual.
I once worked with a guy who hired me to hire an orchestra for him to conduct. He was convinced that, since he had scared up all this money via various bake sales etc to put on a concert and afford the union scale fees of a bunch of musicians, that they would be ever so grateful, and be excited to play his little concert out in the boonies. I told him this: “Try to understand. These musicians are like hyenas, and you and your gig are just one more carcass on the veldt.”
I think the real issue here is that most people who get into positions of power and authority have never really had any actual experience of power and authority, and the thrill of the power, and the experience of having people suddenly sucking up to you day and night, is more than most people can handle. The power is delicious, and they see that joy and attention as the purpose of their professional life, not what they can do with the power. One really has to have a major vision and purpose and self-discipline to overcome the temptation of just indulging in the wondrous enjoyment of having eager minions. Most people, in my experience, do not.
If you are in power, you are rarely told the truth; you are told what people think you want to hear. Hey, nice work if you can get it.
I have a lot of trouble with these temptations myself. I loved being an occasional carcass on the veldt. To be honest, I hated to hire the very last musician on a gig, because I always knew that at that moment I would no longer hold the “hiring power” over the vast herd of un-hireds who were all waiting by the phone.
If you want to talk about the grand idealistic goals of leadership, fine, but let’s also talk about the dark temptations that can easily distract you when you’re in power, and how that affects the people under your control. They are all thinking, all the time, about how to gain ever more benefits for themselves, and to think that everyone just loves everyone else, and the mission and the goal are automatically paramount in such situations, is at best naive. It's nice to have grand well-defined goals, but if you’re not talking about how the power to hire and fire can so easily corrupt goals and relationships, you’re not talking about leadership or management in any meaningful way.
© Justin Locke
