Seduced by simplicity
Lead from the middle
Place: Lorne, Victoria (for those who don’t know it, an idyllic seaside resort town on the iconic Great Ocean Road).
Location: A tree-surfing and zipline adventure park, where kids and grown-ups face aerial challenges high above the eucalyptus rainforest.
Characters: Three 12yo boys, balancing bravado and nerves, navigating a desire to show off at the same time as feel safe and secure.
One of the characters is my son, Jasper, about whose innate leadership style I learned a lot by watching him tree surf with his two close friends for a couple of hours.
Leading from the front is what we traditionally think of as leadership: the inspirational and strong “follow me” characterisation. Leading from behind is sometimes called servant leadership: often quietly enabling everyone’s development, capabilities and confidence. It turns out Jasper is neither of these — he’s most comfortable ‘leading from the middle’.
When embarking on a challenge, he was rarely in front, never in the rear. Instead, he took the middle ground, advising (and sometimes challenging) the boy in front, checking in frequently on the boy behind. In this way, he had the best of both worlds: he can influence direction, but maintain visibility always.
Watching Jasper, it occurred to me that ‘middle leaders’ in organisations are often overlooked. They’re the 2ICs, the advisers to CEOs, sometimes in assisting roles. They are often the vital glue who fill gaps between a ‘front leader’s’ vision, and the servant leaders’ support.
Question: Whom do you recognise as ‘leaders from the middle’ in your organisation?
Root cause
This week, I read in the Washington Post about this guy, Brayden Morton. His two loves are the mountains near where he lives in British Columbia, and his dog, Cody, a Shar-Pei.
He was devastated when one night he heard a ruckus outside his house, went to investigate and discovered Cody had been taken. Using Facebook to publicise the theft, and by offering a $6000 reward, within a week Cody was back.
But the young woman who brought him — and wanted to claim the reward — seemed familiar. Morton had battled drug addictions for years and was now clean, and working as a drug and alcohol counsellor. So he immediately saw that the fidgety and nervous 20yo before him was an opioid user.
Morton talked with her, and drew her out about her life. He told her about his life, and these revelations led to her breaking down in sobs and admitting that, with two friends, she’d stolen Cody to sell online, to fund drug habits.
Most people at this point would have called the police, but Morton did something different. He told the woman he’d use the reward money to fund a stay in rehab instead, because he knew that the $6000 spent on drugs might in fact kill her. She accepted, they traded phone numbers, and Cody returned home.
Question: When should you invest in solving root causes, rather than being punitive?
Deceptive simplicity
In my newsfeed recently, this clickbait appeared: The 3-Move Workout That Transformed Chris Pratt From Slob to Superhero. The algorithm had targetted me (a not-quite-in-shape middle-aged guy) perfectly. Of course, I clicked. And, I found out quickly that the “3-Moves” form part of a 20-minute daily cycle, which Pratt performed diligently for six months. Oh, and a diet of chicken breasts and brocolli.
But still, it got me thinking: What is it about over-simplification, silver bullets and holy grails that so entices us?
In my strategy work, I notice that some clients seem satisfied with the first answer, the too-obvious insight, or an attractive ‘rule of thirds’ (“Every problem has three answers: Let me tell you what they are”).
My role, in these cases, is to dig deeper, even against the pressure of expediency. My job is to keep asking more questions: “Why?”, “What then?”, “What if?” and “How?” It’s only when we do this that we realise that 3-steps is actually 3 months of steps.
Question: When have you been satisfied with a simple answer, only to discover it wasn’t the answer?
Please quickly click the ‘heart’ to let me know you’ve enjoyed reading this week.
If you’re in Victoria (or elsewhere in the COVID-affected world), find a way to enjoy your enforced lockdown this weekend. If you’re somewhere where you’ve got freedom of movement, please enjoy it, and think of us.
See you next Friday.
Andrew