Leadership - it’s all about the light not the heat
Watching the smooth (after months of doom) transition of power between the 45th and the 46th Presidents of the United States of America yesterday I started to reflect a bit on leadership and its outcomes. Without a purpose in mind I found myself returning to those thoughts this morning and I thought I would share.
But, before I begin here’s a caveat - I’m restricting my remarks to mature organisations - companies that need order and discipline to survive and thrive and, as I’ll argue governments too. Today we had an example of an entrepreneurial mindset, Tom Blomfiled of Monzo deciding that, as a founder, he had the wrong skill set for long term growth. That’s why strong boards or the electorate sometimes have to intervene and remove.
The best leaders are confident leaders. The mistake people make, increasingly in a very media rich environment, is that confidence is only present when exhibited in an overt way. Quiet confidence is sidelined for that most perfect of Americanisms being ‘braggadocios’ !
That more superficial display of confidence uses up a lot of oxygen and nearly always masks an insecurity which prevents the forming of effective teams. And leadership can’t work without a team.
So why the White House trigger yesterday and this morning ? It had a lot to do with the contrasting styles of President Trump and Biden - and, as the day moved on the clear evidence that Trump really was a president of one (himself) and Biden is a presidency of many (his team). Let’s put all of Trump’s policy positions to one side - so much of the chaos around his presidency was an inability to lead a team - or even form a coherent one, many vacancies remained throughout his 4 year term. He could campaign, and make speeches and arguably inspire and motivate large numbers of people but he never managed to build and lead a team who could make things happen. That’s why, stripped of Twitter, he withered like the ‘Great Oz’ once the curtain was pulled back.
In contrast it’s clear Biden has a plan. And winners always have a plan. Plans that are dependent (that’s a good word not a bad one) on a trusted, experienced team to both challenge and implement.
I ended up reflecting a bit more on two commercial organisations I had the pleasure of working in - a liquor company in the US and a luxury goods company in the UK. Both had a ‘Biden’ and a ‘Trump’ leadership style amongst their C-Suite management team - before Biden / Trump was a thing. The retrospective parallels are striking.
The common denominator is empathy and inner confidence. If it is present strong teams are built, people are motivated by positive factors (rather than fear) good decisions are made. Absent and it is a fragile, unpredictable and inefficient organisation which gradually starts to resemble a feudal court. It works in the short term but once you’ve had a few cycles of middle management hiring and firing all that is left is a weak inner circle and a blame culture.
Leaders never have to be the smartest or the loudest people in the room they simply (!) have to be the very best judges of character and secure in their own skins.
GO LEAD !
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Izatt is a brand consultant living in London and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers and THE FIRST, a monthly briefing containing 31 inspirational insights. Mission Critical is a digital product delivered via his Estonian Consultancy business.
You can email Mark here and read about his recently published book ‘Mission Critical - 101 tips to survive and thrive at work in the office, on the move and at home’.
