The Greatest Leadership Article I’ve Ever Read

I’m always on the lookout for articles about leadership. Here are a few snippets:

The 5 Elements of Great Leadership

I originally found this article on the military leadership blog, From The Green Notebook, and it’s called “The Map on the Wall.” I encourage you to click and read it in full, then return here for my break down.

#1) Tactics That Work In The Real World

Part of why I love this article so much is because of who didn’t write it. It seems like popular leadership gurus today are the ones who repackage old concepts and who write social media messages that could have been found inside a fortune cookie. Yet these gurus have never built or led a team larger than their public relations staff and video crew. I’ll admit it—I’m partial to leadership advice from people who are actually doing it: leading large teams, day-in day-out, in the real world.

The Map on the Wall was written by Jack “Farva” Curtis, a U.S. Navy aviator who is currently the commanding officer of a Navy EA-18G squadron based at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington.

2) Culture Comes First

Don’t make a new employee fill out paperwork on their first morning at work. Don’t immediately jump into your quarterly town-hall meeting with a review of financials. Instead use the power of first impressions, and the time when attention is at its peak, to focus on what really matters, which is culture. The first priority of any great team is actually the health of the team itself.

In the article, Commander Curtis explains that he has a large map of the United States on the wall of his office, with dozens of push pins stuck in it. Each pin represents the hometown of someone in the squadron. He explains:

“When a new member joins our team, regardless of rank or time in service, they go through a standardized check-in process that culminates in a one-on-one conversation with both the Executive Officer (XO) and the Commanding Officer (CO).

When we sit down for our first conversation, the first thing I ask them to do is take a pin out of the jar and place it on their hometown (or as near as they can get)...I point out that we come from different cultures, different values, different educations, different family dynamics, different spiritual or faith traditions, and many of us have different motivations to serve.”

Curtis chooses to use the valuable “first conversation” to focus on diversity & inclusion. I’ve known CEOs who open every meeting with a comment about safety, others always start by talking about a particular value, there is no one right answer. The point is to put attention on culture from the very start.

3) More Conversations, Less Rules

In my book, Great Leaders Have No Rules, I explain that even the best rules typically crowd out conversation. Rules imposed by others—rather than being co-created—drive engagement down. Commander Curtis put a focus on inclusion, but he could have still messed it up by pushing it through rules—the classic authority model of leadership (which quite frankly emerged from the classic military command and control system). He could have given a mini-lecture on the consequences of harassment and discrimination; he could have had new team members sign a personal conduct pledge.

Instead of dictating diversity, Curtis uses an interactive exercise. He kicks off the conversation by making it about them. “Take a pin out of this jar and place it on your hometown…” He then continues with a conversation about differences, in an environment with high psychological safety. He writes:

“These conversations have proven humorous, enlightening, and more often than not, encouraging. I recall one recent check-in with a Sailor who told me he’d never worked with a black person before joining the Navy. Not alarming, he’s simply a product of where he was born and raised — and there just weren’t many black people where he grew up. Another Sailor I spoke with told me he’d never met a gay person prior to joining the Navy. Now, chances are high that he had and just didn’t know it, but the point was clear — he was in uncharted cultural waters.”

Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspectives. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected]; or call me on 0467 749 378.

Thanks,

Robert