Small Actions Make Great Leaders

This article was originally published in?Harvard Business Review Online.

Julie, an organic chemist, was doing drug research at a lab. Her boss, Gordon, was a well-regarded scientist but also very temperamental. One day she walked into Gordon’s office to ask for his feedback on the draft of a research paper they were co-authoring. The paper represented months of arduous research. Gordon told her that it was the “worst piece of rubbish” he’d ever seen.

Julie replied, “Gordon, I’m not a bit surprised that you thought the paper was rubbish. To be honest, I had the exact same feeling when I was writing it. I felt like I was rambling on and on. I’m always amazed when I read your papers because they’re so incredibly clear and lucid. That’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to work with you and why I was so excited when you offered me a position last fall. The results of our research could be extremely important, and I know that if the paper were well-written, it might make a tremendous impact. The paper may be beyond repair, but I’m wondering if you might have any suggestions about how I could make it better. I want to learn as much from you as I possibly can.”

Gordon’s mood seemed to instantly improve. He looked the paper over,?pointing out problems?to be addressed and offering ideas. Julie went on to publish the paper in a top journal and received a major award for it. (This is a retelling of a true story?from the writings?of the preeminent psychotherapist Dr. David Burns.)

In this interaction between Julie and her boss, who was leading and who was following?

We occasionally witness remarkable acts of leadership from people like Julie who aren’t formally trained in leadership. And in fact, many iconic leaders have apparently had even less such training than her: Abraham Lincoln received only one year of schooling, Mother Teresa and Eleanor Roosevelt did not attend college, and Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi were poor students by their own confessions. So how do ordinary people ascend to?extraordinary leadership?

No question could be more central to organizations today. The wide-ranging disruptions that are upending business-as-usual make it impossible for a few leaders at the top to take on the full burden of envisioning the future and advancing change.?A Gartner?survey?of more than 6,500 employees and over 100 CHROs around the globe found that “the best organizations rely on their workforce, not executives, to lead change.”?

Behaviors and Competencies

Experts have traditionally organized the discipline of leadership into behaviors like having?difficult conversations,?building trust, giving feedback,?coaching, inspiring, influencing, and changing others’ behavior. Aspiring leaders are invited to master each behavior separately. This can prove challenging, as each behavior comes with its own framework and checklist, making it hard for learners to master and execute all they have been prescribed to do. But in leadership workshops we’ve delivered for clients at Mentora Institute, an even more fundamental problem with this behavioral model has surfaced.

Let’s go back to the way Julie interacted with Gordon. In responding to his remarks, was Julie having a difficult conversation with him? Building trust with him? Giving him feedback? Coaching him? Inspiring him? Influencing him? Changing his behavior?

Wasn’t she doing?all the above?— and that, too, in a mere 35 seconds?

Courtesy: Mentora Institute