Challenge #2
THE FRUSTRATION CHALLENGE:
Following an Ineffective Leader
THE KEY TO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATING THE FRUSTRATION CHALLENGE:
Your job isn’t to fix the leader; it’s to add value. If the leader won’t change, then change your attitude or your work address.
On February 6, 1865, the Congress of Confederate States of America, the government of states that had been battling to secede from the United States for nearly four years, did something that Robert E. Lee had hoped to prevent. It adopted a resolution making him general-in-chief—leader of all the nation’s armies, not just the Army of Northern Virginia.
Why would the Southern leaders do such a thing? Because they could see that Lee, a great military leader, was following an ineffective leader—their president, Jefferson Davis—and they still hoped to win their independence from the United States in what they thought of as the second American Revolution.
Most people agree that Lee was the most talented military leader on either side during the American Civil War. In fact, as the Southern states seceded, President Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee command of all Union forces in the field. But Lee declined Lincoln’s offer. His loyalty was to his home state of Virginia. He chose to fight for the Confederacy. Lee, a West Point graduate and experienced army officer, quickly distinguished himself on the battlefield and soon became commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.
As the war continued, leaders within the Confederate States of America became restless because of their lack of victory. Jefferson Davis, they found, did not have the leadership skills required to win the war, despite his credentials—a West Point education, respected military service, experience as a U.S. representative, senator, and secretary of defense. Many Confederate leaders wanted to make Lee commander-in-chief, a move that would have usurped Davis’s authority and stripped him of power over the military. But Lee would not allow it. He was loyal to his state, his cause, and his leader. He worked within the hierarchy. So finally, in desperation, the Confederate congress did what they could—they made Lee general-in-chief, hoping it would change the South’s fate.
It was obvious to many good leaders that Lee was being asked to follow someone who could not lead as well as he could. Even Lee’s opponents, including General and later President Ulysses S. Grant, observed it. Grant remarked in his memoirs: “The Confederacy had gone a long way beyond the reach of President Davis, and there was nothing that could be done except what Lee could do to benefit the Southern people.” Lee felt it was a point of honor not to overstep his bounds. That is one of the reasons the Confederates lost the war and the Union was preserved. Lee was faithful and respective, but there is no telling how differently things might have turned out if Lee had developed the ability to lead up!
LEADERS NO ONE WANTS TO FOLLOW
Few things can be more maddening to a good leader in the middle of an organization than working for an ineffective leader. I have not read anything indicating how Robert E. Lee felt about following Jefferson Davis. He was probably too much of a gentleman to express any negative feelings publicly. But I know it must have been frustrating.
There are many different kinds of ineffective leaders, all of whom are frustrating to follow. Here are a few particularly difficult examples:
THE INSECURE LEADER
Insecure leaders think everything is about them, and as a result, every action, every piece of information, every decision is put through their filter of self-centeredness. When someone on their team performs exceptionally well, they fear being outshone, and they often try to keep him from rising up. When someone on their team does poorly, they react in anger because it makes them look bad.
Insecure leaders think everything is about them, and as a result, every action, every piece of information, every decision is put through their filter of self-centeredness.
More than anything else, insecure leaders desire the status quo—for everyone but themselves. They are like the company president who is reported to have sent a memo to the personnel manager with the following message: “Search the organization for alert, aggressive young leaders capable of stepping into my shoes. And when you find them—fire them!”
One friend I talked to while writing this book said that he once worked for a leader who had one basic leadership principle: keep everyone off balance. If someone working for him started feeling a little too secure, he would “shake him up.”
In an organization, security flows downward. When leaders are insecure, they often project that insecurity down to the people below them. If you work for an insecure person, not only will you have to work to deflect that individual’s insecurity from yourself, but you will also have to work harder to “break the chain” and create security for the people who work for you. If you don’t, the people under your care will suffer.
THE VISIONLESS LEADER
Leaders who lack vision create two immediate problems for the people who work for them. First, they fail to provide direction or incentive to move forward. The ancient Proverbs author wrote, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”1 Why? Because they don’t go anywhere or do anything. And that’s no way to live. Second, people who lack vision almost always lack passion. They have no fire—and no fuel to keep themselves and their people going. That doesn’t create the kind of positive environment that is exciting to work in.
The good news is that if you have vision when your leader does not, you can rely on your vision to create an environment of productivity and success for the people working within your area of responsibility. The bad news is that other people with a different vision—even a destructive one—may try to rush in and fill the void created by your leader. You must beware of the conflict that can create.
THE INCOMPETENT LEADER
Several years ago while traveling in Turkey, I listened as a tour guide talked about many of the sultans in Turkey’s history and how they put their people under tremendous pressure. Often if someone didn’t meet their expectations, the sultans would simply put the person to death.
The guide spoke about the sultan who had ordered the construction of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The sultan wanted the architect to make the building’s minarets out of gold. The problem was that the architect knew there wasn’t enough money to do that. The architect also knew that if he disagreed with the sultan, it might cost him his head. It was quite a dilemma, but the architect came up with a clever solution. The word for six was very similar to the word for gold in Arabic, alti versus altin. So the architect built six towers made of stone, and when the sultan questioned him, the architect feigned misunderstanding and explained that he thought the sultan had said alti, not altin.
“Advice is seldom welcome, and those who need it most like it the least.”
—SAMUEL JOHNSON
Leaders who follow incompetent people often feel the pressure that the architect in the story did—though they usually don’t face such potentially dire consequences. Incompetent leaders are ineffective, and they often stay that way. Poet and critic Samuel Johnson said, “Advice is seldom welcome, and those who need it most like it the least.”
Incompetent leaders are trouble, not only for the people they lead, but also for their entire organization. They are “lids” on the parts of the organization they lead. The Law of the Lid states in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, “Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness.”
THE SELFISH LEADER
In The Circle of Innovation, author and business guru Tom Peters writes:
The selfish leader will attempt to lead others for their own gain and for the detriment of others. These people believe that life is a point driven, zero-sum game, with winners and losers. They encourage others to be losers in the game of life so that they can collect all the spoils for themselves. This is the businesswoman who cheats suppliers in order to make her department look good in hopes of getting a raise. This is the father who selfishly motivates his son to excel in sports so that he might gain vicarious pleasure at his son’s expense.2
A selfish leader advances at the expense of everyone around him or her. An executive I interviewed said that one of the leaders he worked for earlier in his career was someone who selfishly hoarded all the perks that came with his leadership position. As a result, now that the executive is a top leader himself, he makes it a point to share the perks of leadership with the people who work for him. That’s good advice for anyone in a leadership position anywhere in an organization. Share whatever you have with the people below you. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden said that to be successful “you must be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.”
“The selfish leader will attempt to lead others for their own gain and for the detriment of others.”
—TOM PETERS
THE CHAMELEON LEADER
President Lyndon Baines Johnson used to tell the story of a young, unemployed schoolteacher who came to the Texas hill country during the Depression in search of a job. When the local school board asked him whether the world was round or flat, the would-be teacher panicked, fearing a trap, and blurted out, “I can teach it both ways!”
That’s the chameleon leader’s reaction when you try to pin him down. When people follow a chameleon leader, they never know how he will react. As a result, valuable time and energy that could be used getting work done is often wasted in trying to predict and anticipate the leader’s next move.
THE POLITICAL LEADER
Similar to the chameleon leader are political leaders. They can be just as difficult to pin down, but where emotional issues often fuel the chameleon leader’s problems, political leaders are motivated by the desire to get ahead. It’s hard to follow people whose decisions are based on political ambitions rather than the mission or the good of the organization. They are like the mayor who was asked where he stood on a particular issue. He answered, “Well, some of my friends are for it. Some are against it. As for me, I’m for my friends.”
THE CONTROLLING LEADER
Have you ever worked for someone who wants to be in the middle of everything you do? Few things are more frustrating for a competent person. And few things are more irritating for a good leader. It’s difficult to generate momentum when the person you work for is continually interrupting your progress by micromanaging you.
People who micromanage others are often driven by one of two things: the desire for perfection, which is unobtainable, or the belief that no one can do a job as well as they can, which really boils down to their thinking others’ contributions aren’t as valuable as their own. Neither makes for positive working conditions for the people answering to them.
THE SOLUTION TO THE FRUSTRATION CHALLENGE: ADDING VALUE
A normal reaction to the Frustration Challenge is to fix or replace the leader you’re working for, but that is usually not an option for leaders in the middle of the pack. Besides, even if it were, it would be inappropriate. No matter what our circumstances, our greatest limitation isn’t the leader above us—it’s the spirit within us. Remember, your leadership is as much disposition as position. The role of leaders in the middle of an organization—in nearly every circumstance—is to add value to the organization and to the leader. The only time that is not true is when the leader above you is unethical or criminal.
No matter what our circumstances, our greatest limitation isn’t the leader above us—it’s the spirit within us.
What should you do when you find yourself following a leader who is ineffective? How do you add value in such circumstances? Most good leaders have had to ask themselves those questions at some time in their lives. In fact, the stronger you are as a leader, the more likely you are to face a situation where you can lead more effectively than the person to whom you report.
It may not be easy, but it is possible to survive—and even flourish—in a situation like this. Here is what I recommend:
1. DEVELOP A SOLID RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR LEADER
The first reaction to working for an ineffective leader is often to withdraw from him or her and build relational barriers. Fight that urge. If you make your leader your adversary, you will create a no-win situation. Instead, build a relational bridge. Try to get to know him, find common ground, and build a solid professional relationship. And in that process, reaffirm your commitment to the mission of the organization. Doing those things will put you on the same team.
2. IDENTIFY AND APPRECIATE YOUR LEADER’S STRENGTHS
Everybody has strengths—even an ineffective leader. Work to find them in the person you work for. Maybe it won’t be easy. Maybe his strengths aren’t qualities you value or admire. That doesn’t matter. Find them, and then think about how they might be assets to the organization.
3. COMMIT YOURSELF TO ADDING VALUE TO YOUR LEADER’S STRENGTHS
The pathway to success in your career lies in maximizing your strengths. That is also true for your leader. Once you have discerned what your leader’s strengths are and how those characteristics can be an asset to the organization, look for ways to help leverage those strengths.
4. GET PERMISSION TO DEVELOP A GAME PLAN TO COMPLEMENT YOUR LEADER’S WEAKNESSES
Besides leveraging your strengths, one of the other secrets to job success is to staff your weaknesses. As a leader, you would be wise to empower some people who work for you to fill in your talent gaps. For example, if you are not good at details, then hire someone who is and have them work closely with you.
You can play that same gap-filling role with your leader. You must be very careful, however, in the way you approach this subject. Don’t offer your opinion on her weaknesses unless she asks, and even then, be tactful. If she identifies one of her weaknesses to you, privately ask if she would be willing to let you carry the ball in that area. The idea is to do what she can’t do so that she can do what she does best.
5. EXPOSE YOUR LEADER TO GOOD LEADERSHIP RESOURCES
If you are working to improve your leadership skills, then you’ve probably discovered many good leadership resources, such as books, CDs, or DVDs. Share those with your leader. Once again, the approach you take is very important. Rather than saying, “Boy, do you need this!” say something like, “I just got through with this book, and I thought you might enjoy it too.” Or if you find some kind of a connection or hook that you think might appeal to him, say, “I was reading this wonderful book, and I thought of you; the author and you have a similar background. I think you might like it.” And then give him a copy of his own. If that resource is well received, you might try following up with others.
6. PUBLICLY AFFIRM YOUR LEADER
Some people fear that if they say positive things about an ineffective leader they work for, they will be misleading others. Or they worry that others will think they have poor judgment. But other people are aware of an ineffective leader’s limitations, and as long as your affirmation is truthful and focuses on your leader’s strengths, it won’t reflect badly on you. In fact, it will engender others’ respect. Your affirmation for your leader will help him develop confidence, not only in himself but also in you.
It’s hard to find a downside to adding value to your leader and organization, especially if you maintain a long view. In time, people will recognize your talent. Others will value your contribution. They will admire your ability to succeed and to help others—even those less talented than you—succeed. You just can’t allow yourself to give in to the short-term frustration you feel. If you do find that the frustration is getting the better of you, it might be time to change jobs.
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