The Most Underrated Leadership Skill

Bookstores and libraries are full of books on leadership and management. Many philosophies and skills are advocated and discussed. The ideas presented are good and valuable.

I have read many of these ideas, have benefited from them and encourage others to profit from them as well. However, the one skill that I don’t recall reading may be the most underrated leadership skill of all.

Most of us have heard the expression, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” Many individuals focus on the “lead” or “follow” portions of that expression.

Knowing when and how to “Get out of the way” may be the most understudied leadership technique of all. Our natural tendencies are that we don’t want others to micromanage us, but we are more likely to over manage those that we lead.

My belief is that our tendencies come from the desire to be free ourselves, yet to be proactive in leading others. In addition, there is a natural desire to be in control.

I have seen a CEO who couldn’t find his way to the office without the limousine ride he received daily, and he didn’t know what was going on once he got there. He got out of the way all of the time, but his impact on the business was questioned.

I have also seen another CEO who knew and cared about his employees and customers, who knew the business and based decisions based on a long term vision for its success. He knew when to get out of the way to let his people accomplish their mission and the business thrived.

In addition, I have seen a U.S. business, which is European owned and managed. Employees from the European parent micromanage the U.S. employees all year long and question every little decision, with one exception. During August, it is common for a lot of Europeans to go on “holiday”, which is our term for vacation. For the entire month, no one calls the U.S. to inquire about how the business is being run because everyone, it seems, is away from work. After the “holiday”, the micromanaging resumes.

If hands-on management is so important, why don’t the Europeans stagger their “holidays” in order to have someone continue the oversight during August? How many of the requests for information during the year are merely to enable the bureaucrats to justify their positions? What would happen if fewer requests for data were made of their U.S. operation? Is it possible, that reducing the reporting burden might actually increase performance?

Lastly, during World War II in the European theatre, the Allied forces operated differently than the German forces. The Germans were managed in a controlled, top down manner where no decision could be made until it was taken to a high enough authority. On the other hand, in spite of a disciplined organization with effective leadership from the commander-in-chief down, the Allies permitted and encouraged individual initiative from their soldiers in response to circumstances in the field.

The differences became obvious after the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. Caught by surprise by time and location, the Germans failed to change their plans for several hours because they were afraid to awake Adolf Hitler and ask for instructions. In the meantime, the Allies took full advantage of the element of surprise, which assured the success of the invasion.

A short time later, when the Allies became bogged down in the hedgerow country behind the beaches, an individual soldier discovered the solution to cutting through the obstacles that cost so many lives and so much time. The idea to put a plow type device on the front of a tank would have taken many levels of approval and a long time the way the Germans operated. The ingenuity of one Allied soldier and the rapid adoption by others hastened the end of the war and spared many lives.

Determining when to get out of the way and let people perform is very much a learned skill, which is practiced by feel. It is an art rather than a science. Like most other interpersonal skills, knowing the time to use it as a technique will determine its effectiveness.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle

Don't Look Back, We're Not Going That Way

I’ve heard this line attributed to Will Rogers, but I have been unable to verify it as a fact. If he didn’t say it, he probably would be glad to take credit for saying it.

One of the advantages of maturing is the opportunity to look back and evaluate our experiences. I say opportunity because not everyone will do it, and others will begin, but quit because of what they may see.

When I look back, I see several decisions I made that looked right at the time, but turned out negatively. I can see many correct decisions also, but it’s the ones that embarrass me now that stand out under an honest review.

It is interesting to observe decisions, professionally and personally, where I went back and retried something after moving on. Fortunately, the results were mixed and not totally negative.

The common denominator in making the decisions was succumbing to make the decision in the vacuum of the present. Our culture has become one that emphasizes “Now” and gives little weight to past history and future consequences. I believe this is a phenomenon that has grown significantly since the 1960’s, and if left unchallenged will continue to grow and damage individuals, families and our nation.

We have so many resources to take advantage of in every decision. History, if we will study it, is filled with examples of virtually every experience we will encounter. Our family, friends and mentors would love us to seek their counsel, but I have overlooked that valued advice more times than I would like to admit.

The key to maximizing our decision success for today, and make decisions that will stand the test of time is to get out of the vacuum of the present, and consider past events and the impact on the future. To do that, it may be better to slow down our decision process in spite of the pressure to make decisions faster that is reinforced with cell phones, the Internet, and e-mail communications.

A humorous example of this principle happened to our family recently. We were driving from Austin to Dallas, and I had been convinced to take Interstate 35 against my better judgment. Traffic was extremely heavy on a road that has too many accidents, which block traffic for hours.

In Waco, I deliberated taking a secondary road that connected to Interstate 45 to avoid potential problems during the last 100 miles. Because traffic was moving at an acceptable speed, I decided to press on and passed the alternative road.

Within 4 miles, I could see traffic ahead stopped. Realizing I could take an eastbound road and connect with the road to Interstate 45, I decided to exit I-35. Laura and Elizabeth were resting in the back seat as we set out over a road that wasn’t on my map.

As I drove down the asphalt side road, it became more and more bumpy and was barely two lanes wide. My wife and daughter were awakened and startled to discover we weren’t on a recognizable road.

When I explained that we were taking a short cut, my wife demanded that I return to the familiar Interstate. My daughter screamed, “We’re all going to die!” I told them, “We’re not going back. I know that this road will lead to where we want to go and will save a lot of time.”

Shortly, the asphalt pavement ended and the road turned into gravel. My wife and daughter elevated their displeasure and demanded that I turn around. Again, I stated, “We’re not going back. Everything will be ok.”

For what seemed to be a much longer time than I’m sure it was, I pressed on and the cries to turn back became louder and more frequent. If anyone would have seen us, I’m sure they would have hurt themselves laughing at our behavior. The car was speeding down the road with the dust flying around and behind it. I was intent on driving until we found our destination, and my wife and daughter were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Several miles later, the road became asphalt again. We saw a lady in her front yard, and I stopped to verify my route in order to please my nervous passengers. “Just take a right at the stop sign ahead, and it will lead you to your highway in a few miles”, the lady assured us.

Since your reading this, you know that we found our way out of the wilderness and back to civilization. I asked my daughter if she didn’t enjoy the adventure, and she said that she didn’t like that much adventure. In spite of taking a different path, we achieved our goal.

One of my hero’s, Davy Crockett, said, “Be sure you’re right and then go ahead.” How I wish I could say that all of the decisions I have made were made in that sequence.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle

If We Don't Manage Our Time, It Will Manage Us

Too many things to do, and not enough time to do them in, is the statement that summarizes the time of privilege we live in. Raising families, working and a plethora of leisure activities compete for our attention.

Until the advent of the refrigerator, homemakers would spend several hours each day gathering items for the family evening meal. This ritual has all but vanished in the United States, is vanishing in Eastern Europe, but is still common in many parts of the world.

The freedom that women realized has enabled them to spend more time involved with their children’s schools, extra-curricular activities, work, civic involvement, and other activities.

Men have benefited from reduced and more flexible work schedules than their ancestors, and likewise have many activities to choose from to fill their time. It would have been unheard of just a few years ago that so many people would invest so much time involved in fantasy sports leagues.

Cell phones, the Internet and e-mail have created a world that moves faster and functions 24 hours a day. All of these tools were designed to help us accomplish our tasks more efficiently, but we often end up spending more time using them than we spent using less effective previous technologies.

I heard a statement in 1996 by Dr. Haddon Robinson that grabbed my attention and illustrated our dilemma. He said, “Time is your enemy, disguised as your friend.” It’s so true. If we’re not careful, we mistakenly feel that we can wait to take steps to accomplish our dreams.

We live day by day and sometimes feel time moves at the pace of a snail. We wish days would pass so that the day of a certain event will arrive. As we get older we perceive every year that time is passing faster and faster. As we mature, we see how large segments of time seem to have passed by in seems like an instant.

One of the principles that I speak about being critical to one’s success is, “The most important decision we make everyday is where not to spend our time.” This forces us to examine where we are spending time that is not contributing to our success and long-term goals. It motivates us to prioritize our activities and focus our energy.

Another challenge we face daily is that laziness is rewarded immediately, whereas hard work is only rewarded in the future. While pop culture emphasizes the enjoying the moment, if we desire anything above what government assistance provides, we are compelled to put leisure aside and work to earn that which we desire.

Some of us fall prey to Parkinson’s Law. That is the principle that a task will take as much time to complete as there is time allowed to complete it. Have you ever been to a meeting that dragged on because someone felt it had to last as long as scheduled in spite of accomplishing all of its objectives? Speakers often take all of the time allocated to them, and in some instances even longer. Projects aren’t completed until their deadline in spite of them being essentially complete long before the deadline. Why don’t we complete the task at hand and use the additional time for other priorities?

In addition, most of us find ourselves given more worthy opportunities than we have the time, talent or pocketbook to support. It is imperative that we choose to participate in those programs that support our annual or long-term goals. If a worthwhile project doesn’t fit into our current goals it is ok to decline. If we don’t learn to say “no” to some requests, we will be diverted from our goals, lose focus and ultimately be less effective.

Finally, sometimes our dreams and goals are so large that we have a difficult time imagining making the journey to accomplish them. The old question comes to mind, “How does a mouse eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time”, is the answer.

In summary, we must resist distractions that can divert us from our goals. To effectively use our time, we have to prioritize our over demanding list of opportunities, focus our activities on those priorities and persist through every challenge until we have achieved success.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle

When The Rules Change in The Middle of the Game

We’re all creatures of habit who like to establish routines that are comfortable, and that we feel that we control. We live and base decisions based on those habits and the rules as they exist.

At some point, nearly all of us realize that we’re not in control of as much as we desire. In addition, we experience rule changes by law, court edict, or some other force beyond our control.

Wouldn’t it be nice to dictate the rules in order to always win? When I was growing up a cousin and I would play Monopoly with our younger brothers. Because we were older, we dictated the rules. This meant that regardless of the events of the game, we would interpret the rules so that we would win.

Early on everything went well because our younger brothers were content merely to be able to play the game with us. We had a great time ruling the roost, winning, and never risking loss.

As our brothers grew, and had other experiences, they realized that they were being taken advantage of by us. The final result was that our monopoly on Monopoly ended.

Once we had to play the game fairly, it wasn’t nearly as fun for us, but it was much more fun for our brothers. Their freedom brought an end to our tyranny.

In a similar vein, we live based on the rules of our country, state, city employer and possibly others. We make decisions that will benefit us and our family based on those rules.

Sometimes changes made in the rules we live by happen suddenly and with little or no notice. At a minimum, they disrupt our routine and force us to adapt to return to a comfortable life. More often, we face harm financially and possibly to our reputation.

The 1986 tax reform act, which Congress passed, is an example worth remembering. Designed to simplify the tax code and raise revenue, the changes also had more far reaching effects.

One of the more dramatic revisions was the significant increase in the amount of time that investment real estate had to be depreciated. The economics of the real estate market changed overnight and with minimal notice.

Because of the extended depreciation period, properties became less valuable as an investment. Because properties became less valuable, there were fewer people interested in buying property. Because of fewer people being buyers, prices plummeted. Because prices plummeted, renters became buyers, which adversely affected the rental property market.

The spiral continued when people lost their jobs because of the chain reaction. As unemployment rose, people were unable to pay their rent or house payment, which further expanded the housing supply in a declining market.

Foreclosures, bankruptcies and the savings and loan problems of the 1980’s followed. In short, many people were harmed financially and otherwise who played by the rules, but the rules were changed in the middle of the game. Eventually the buyers returned and markets rebounded, but not without a lot of scars that still exist.

That the rules change in the middle of the game of life doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t play nor strive to achieve our goals and dreams. It does mean that we should anticipate unexpected changes, prepare for different alternatives, recognize change as early as possible, and adapt to the changes in order to minimize loss and maximize success.

The difference can be described as not playing out of a fear of loss, not playing and taking risks without a complete understanding of the game, but playing the game taking calculated risks to improve our likelihood of success.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle