I had the fortune of joining a telecommunications company when the industry was still in its infancy. As a young professional I was excited at the opportunities that lay ahead of me. As the company grew so did my career and I enter the world of leadership in my mid twenties. One of the leaders that taught me the most did it without knowing it. We will call him Joe.
Joe was a highly intelligent hard working employee who rose through the leadership levels based on his aggressiveness and intelligence. He knew nothing about leadership.
According to Bennis and Nanus (1985), transformational leaders set a clear vision of the future state of the organization (NORTHOUSE, 2013). Joes’ vision changed weekly based on the latest report that he could find. He never had a clear vision that lasted more than 30 days.
As a social architect for the organization, he was successful in creating a shape or form and shared meaning for his team. He communicated a direction that transformed the organizations values and norm (NORHTOUSE, 2013). The challenge he faced was that the shared meaning that was created included lack of respect for his leadership practices and a lack of trust. He created this with management by exception.
Management by exception is leadership that involves corrective criticism, negative feedback and negative reinforcement (NORTHOUSE, 2013). His ability to find the negative became legendary in the office. Joe once presented an award to one of my team members and after thanking them for their accomplishments mentioned that their performance had trailed off the last day or two and to remain focused. It was this event that I remember clearly as a turning point in my leadership development.
I began to watch Joe’s actions and the impact of them on the teams and simply did the opposite. When Joe would call a meeting to review key performance indicators, I would gather a list of positive accomplishments so that after his presentation I could review additional information with the team.
We worked together for a little over three years before he moved on, but I credit him with showing me not only how not to be a leader, but also how to pay attention to a teams mood and emotional state. While there will always be times when a leader needs to increase the performance of their followers, there are many different ways to accomplish that goal that is positive for all involved and that should be the goal of every leader.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications