Beyond Our Own Limited Perceptions

I am not in the habit of posting articles. I usually prefer to keep my opinions to myself and let my results do the talking. However, the events of January 6th, 2021 and the ensuing juxtaposition of all manner of media, self-appointed experts, citizen sentiment and government “leadership” (yes, I put that in quotes for a reason) has driven me to use my one day off to step into the fray of public opinion with the hope of creating a moment of pause with a thought-provoking question:

Is this a moment that requires transformational leadership,  and if so, who is capable of providing it?

On January 6th, 2021 we saw what many are describing as a mob mentality, domestic terrorism, and even sedition. (Does anyone see a hint of inflammatory speech?) Today, as I shut off the harangue of news reporters and “experts” and sought refuge in my preferred (INTJ – Myers Briggs Type – introvert, intuitive, thinking, judger) mode of discernment, I realized that I’ve seen this scenario before. True, on a smaller scale, but with similar challenges, and I believe that there are others of you out there, in leadership positions, who have had the same experience. 

If you, like I, have been put in the position to turn around an organization in chaos, underperforming, in disarray or out of control, you recognize the sentiments and maybe even the behaviors of people on January 6th. In most cases someone, (an owner, board member, search consultant) has defined the problem for you, and it usually looks like this. 

·        There is an environment that is deteriorating.

·       There has been a disruption.

·        A serious performance issue resulted.

·        There is a critical level of instability.

·        The solution demands transformational leadership; there can be no going back!

One organization I was hired to lead had been owned by a benevolent founder who employed friends and family of limited skills to help in the startup of the business.  The company exhibited all the telltale signs of disorder, many of which are paralleled in our political sphere today.

Environment: As the organization grew and new employees were hired, a cultural split occurred;, a culture of privilege developed for some, a meritocracy for everyone else. The owner failed to address the different expectations he had created between new and old employees around work ethic and commitment. Old employees rested on their successes from the past; new employees focused on the future potential of the business. 

Disruption: With growth stymied and product patent protection abating, the founder and entrepreneur struck a deal to sell his business to a large corporation. Although the organization expected an influx of capital post acquisition, they underestimated the performance expectations that accompanied the financial backing. The added stress exacerbated the situation.

Performance Issue: The stand-alone business was allowed to operate as usual, without addressing operational and performance irregularities until deemed to be underperforming, per acquisition expectations. Founding employees owned other businesses, worked limited hours, and sometimes didn’t even show up. New employees charged with new product development and growth had limited interaction with the founder who still oversaw technology and yet held extremely limited office hours. 

Instability: Frustration levels rose, trust was non-existent, the old leadership retreated and ignored the dissidence. Emotions ran high, lawsuits were threatened, suspicion and a sense of helplessness prevailed.

Transformational Leadership:  I was brought in, mainly because the COO believed my leadership style would most align with what the people in this organization needed.    

The success of the above business’ transformation took all the characteristics defined below by Bernard Bass. But before I reveal how a successful transformation came about, allow me to suggest some parallels to the current state of our country.

James McGregor Burns introduced the concept of leadership in his 1978 book, Leadership. He defined transformational leadership as a process where "leaders and their followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation”. Another leadership guru, Bernard M. Bass further defined transformational leadership in his 1985 book, Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectation. He wrote, this kind of leader is a model of integrity and fairness, sets clear goals, has high expectations, encourages others, provides support and recognition, stirs the emotions of people, gets people to look beyond their self-interest, and Inspires people to reach for the improbable.

The thousands of people who showed up in Washington, D.C. on January 6th are angry (I purposely didn’t use the past tense). The extreme behavior we all observed is emotion driven and a result of something being seriously out of wack in our culture. 

Those of you who have experience in turn around situations or acquisitions can probably discern similar parallels.

Environment: I first wrote “partisan” to describe our environment, but as days have progressed and no one has stepped forward (in Congress) to validate the issues partially driving this display of emotion, I believe the environment is more like the aforementioned business; entrenched versus engaged.  

Our view of government today is diametrically opposed to its original intent. Consider these observations by Jack Scammahorn, of the Kansas City Star.

This concept of Congress gaining the favor of the sitting president is diametrically opposed to our view of the separation of powers.

Most alarming may be Congress’ self-imposed inability to govern today. There has been a systemic shift from the serving “the people themselves,” in the words of James Madison, to focusing more on internal party bickering and self-serving survival through soliciting funds from wealthy benefactors who buy favor with their donations.

Today, overwhelming majorities of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle readily yield their constitutional powers to advance party interests at the expense of protecting the institution. Congress has transformed from governing the people and debating constitutional issues to unbridled loyalty to their individual parties, special interest groups, or both.

These groups and lobbyists hold Congress at bay on issue after issue. The more controversial the subject, it seems the less Congress will act.

This view of government is rarely taught and virtually unknown.

Just think, millions of people believe our government is broken. If half your organization felt that way, what would you do? How could you survive? And yet Congress happily goes on, collecting a paycheck, while accomplishing what? Worse than the NFL, where failed coaches are shuffled from team to team, Congress endures in an environment where they produce little and rely on partisan toxicity to keep their name’s in the news, thereby enhancing their personal “value”.

Disruption: The election, played out in a hyper-partisan environment with very limited discernment. Discernment means having the ability to judge well. My grandfather, who had no formal schooling, would often say, “Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.” This aphorism does not work in an environment where you can snooze, unfollow, unfriend, mute, or block someone with an opinion different from your own. It’s not just your preferences - social media has limited human interactions and driven polarization with algorithms that prioritize content based on proclivity to engage MORE or continue engaging. MAYBE person X would “prefer” to see a news feed filled with Bible versus and Lauren Daigle songs, but if person X will “engage” by angrily commenting for hours if served up posts detailing Hillary Clinton conspiracy theories, then guess what Facebook is going to put in front of person X when they log in? The thing that keeps them engaged…regardless of how healthy or not that may be.

Before the rise of social media, you likely did not know or care about the political affiliation of your friends. Today people choose and lose friends based on politics. Social media is training people to be hyper-partisan. Anything but discerning!  Slant, spin, skew, bury, word’s Walter Cronkite never considered. He believed that “In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story. And that's the way it is. We all have our likes and our dislikes. Journalism is what we need to make democracy work.” 

Performance issue: The four years of this past presidency, and I might add the 4 years before that, have produced numerous examples of abusive language, unrelenting accusations, demagoguery, division… there aren’t enough nouns…you get the idea. Look at what government costs its citizens versus what it delivers. Congress shuts down businesses while they continue to be paid. They go to private dinners and salons to have their hair done while they threaten people to comply with their shut down orders as businesses fail and jobs disappear. Go back to the list by Bernard Bass and read the list of transformational leadership characteristics again, but this time add the phrase “for themselves and their organization.” Poor leaders stop listening when what they will hear interferes with their own self-interests. 

On the other hand, some would point to achievement in prison reform, Middle East peace, reduction of military forces deployed around the world, or security of our boarders. But like the strident mother who fails to recognize her child’s accomplishments before enumerating her/his shortcomings, partisan whiplash is leaving half our citizens constantly disenfranchised. I would posit that no one person owns this issue. Are we not a government founded on three branches? If you believe that, and work in one of those three branches, why would you not strive to maintain the balance that made this country the greatest on earth, rather than seeking to subjugate one another. 

Instability: Half of the citizens of this country believe Congress and the President don’t care about them. Segments of society (media, internet, celebrities, etc.) derive import, reputation, and livelihood by fostering divisions among people, while espousing “inclusivity.” Anger, resentment, frustration…just as in the business example (and other characteristics), are prevalent and it is imperative that transformational leadership step forward. 

Back to the business example and what we might learn from it. In my personal experience transformational leadership is born out of servant leadership and only succeeds when leaders have a people-focused philosophy and altruistic motivations. 

In my above case, success resulted when:

An environment of openness allowed issues to be surfaced that leaders owned and addressed.

Organizational changes were planned for and considered in a team environment so disruption could be avoided or minimized. That takes work! Just wearing the same jersey doesn’t make you a team.

Performance issues were addressed by aligning purpose, vision, mission, values, strategy, objectives, and expectations throughout the organization, in a concerted effort to inform and include all employees. Diversity and inclusion must be an operational reality, not just an HR dictated attitude.

Instability was surfaced and addressed in a timely manner. When organizational change occurs, leaders must quickly determine those who are supportive and those who are not. Those entrenched in their disagreement with the direction of the business should be heard and then given the option to be open minded and help, or be reassigned. 

My personal philosophy, developed long before I knew of Bernard Bass, has always been summed up by these three words: Integrity, Teamwork, Professionalism. I err on the side of over-communicating because I believe leaders can give people a greater sense of personal control by supplying them with the information they need to determine their own destiny.  

So, on January 6th, 2021 – when democracy didn’t work, there were many who sought to blame particular individuals, but I would posit that there are many who should shoulder the blame. It seems in government the motivation for change is the opposite of that for business; business leaders must create change to survive, government leadership seeks to minimize change to survive. Perhaps one is ruling, instead of serving.  

This country desperately needs leaders of discernment and accountability-transformational leaders. People who as J.M Burns said, “raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation.”  But until Congress regains its constitutional role, media reports both sides of an issue instead of always editorializing, and people work to see beyond their own limited perceptions, transformational change, although severely needed, will not be possible.

Is anyone capable of providing transformational leadership? If given the opportunity, I believe business leaders in conjunction with governors, those who do not operate removed from the people they serve, are most capable of the transformational leadership our nation, our institutions and most importantly our people are demanding. Is anyone listening?