OK, I am going to attempt something a bit odd. I am going to weave three, initially non sequitur completely random things into a management point of view…sleeping downstairs, my cat sneezing and a haircut. Wow, even I think this seems daunting.
I sleep downstairs sometimes. Yes, my basement bedroom. I snore on occasions; especially when a gain a couple of pounds. I have lost the weight for those keeping track for potential trivia reasons. So this has been a while. Anyway, I did this for the benefit for my wife. She is a very light sleeper and I know that when I snore, she likes me much less than she did when she married me. Much less. I do this, however as begrudgingly it may be, so that she will have a good night sleep. It is the very least I can do for her. As manager, we sometimes have to give of ourselves. We give someone, them, our team empowerment, opportunity to make decisions (even when we bite our lip doing so), space to be “themselves” when we would rather they be more like “us” and allow them to make mistakes as means to grow in their abilities. We do this for them. We have to embrace something called – Servant leadership. The concept of servant leadership can be traced back, at least partly, to Jesus, who taught his disciples that
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)
A more modern concept to servant leadership development was coined and defined by Robert Greenleaf, who published his essay “The Servant as Leader” in 1970. This led to further essays from Greenleaf, and further works from others, especially in recent years by several authors such as Stephen Covey, Peter Block, Peter Senge, Max DePree, Margaret Wheatley, Ken Blanchard, and others. Servant leadership emphasizes the leader’s role as steward of the resources (human, financial and otherwise) provided by the organization. It encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization’s values and integrity.
In approximately 600 B.C., the Chinese sage Lao Tzu wrote The Tao Te Ching, a strategic treatise on servant leadership:
FORTY-NINE
The greatest leader forgets himself and attends to the development of others.
Good leaders support excellent workers.
Great leaders support the bottom ten percent.
Great leaders know that the diamond in the rough is always found “in the rough.”
Next, my cat has been sneezing lately. Her sound is much like a repetitious firing…well, whatever fires a lot in continuous sequence. Maybe like a machine gun? Too violent? OK, so I have no clue why she is doing this. It has just shown up with nothing discernible that has changed in environment and feeding or any possible introduction of some type of allergen. She has never done this before and it comes at undefined and completely “huh, what is that sound” kind of moments. She rapid fires out five or seven quick “achews” and then lies in the sunlight on the stairs or drinks the dog’s water or sits and just stares at you. By the way, her name is Nikita for the fictitious female assassin (which she lives up to at every opportunity). She is also part Siamese and loves to chat…every morning! She has beautiful blue eyes, albeit they look cross-eyed (apparently a Siamese thing). We face the same “what is this all about” in our management day. We don’t always understand what is happening, for what reason and especially when it seems to come from someone or something that takes us completely by surprise. You have had that day; “Mary, why did you do that? That is not like you. That is what I expect from _______.” Nothing in life is scripted. We, as managers, must be flexible, adaptable to the “what?” and improvisational in what we get in any given day. I have found the best way to deal with the unexpected is to…
Be open: Are you comfortable with the possibility of unexpected things happening in your management space? This means being aware and considering all possibilities before setting your course on one. Being open is about listening (literally and figuratively) as well as being willing to change.
Be embracing: How do you process something which may change things? This is closely linked to openness. They have a symbiotic relationship. Being flexible is about adapting to change. Be wary of control, this is a flexibility killer.
Be confident: This is established when you know your abilities in light of no context with a comfort level of an improvisational mindset. Being confident is about owning your actions. Your team not only expects you to make decisions, but also to stand behind those decisions even when you don’t understand the reason for them.
Be learning focused: Throughout life, we are learning lessons. “It” happens and we…well, we learn. It is these experiences, mistakes and imagination which cultivate growth and development. Being learning-focused is being OK with possibly re-inventing yourself.
Cuz a cat sneezed.
And I got a haircut. Two things. I remember from some movie, someone said “Then I got a haircut.” The context was about someone completely changing something about themselves and their logic was linking that to the act of the haircut. Two, I recently got a haircut…a very short haircut. My daughter’s reactions were, “Daddy, too short”. They were remarking about an obvious change, a physical change to my appearance. When was the last time you changed something about how you managed. I will tell you, your team, if they hear the same thing over and over again, will begin to tune you out because you are doing the same thing you always do. They can predict what will happen next. You must break the rhythm. You must change your habits and how your team will hear you. What about…
Starting your meeting with a video clip.
Conducting your one-on-ones at a supermarket and discuss how they, as individuals can impact sales behaviors while sitting in an environment where there are no sales people.
Asking them “what do they want be when they grow up” instead of asking what are their goals in the next five years.
Telling them “I know you will probably not be here in a year or two because this is not your long term profession, so I want to grow you beyond belief and you can take that with you wherever you go.”
Do the unexpected and see how they respond, how they re-engage. Maybe get a haircut.
Cheers