5 lessons leaders can learn from the fall of the Berlin wall

Do you want to make your corporate culture more inclusive and skilled around diversity topics? Are you trying to remove toxic traits in your company? Are your people guarding fiefdoms instead of cooperating? Are they clinging to established business models instead of bravely venturing into the digital world? All these are adaptive leadership challenges, and you can learn valuable lessons from the fall of the iron curtain.

A press conference on the evening of November 9th, 1989: GDR Politbureau member Günther Schabowski announces travel liberties for all GDR citizens to the West. He seems confused. He hadn't read all the statements handed to him before meeting the press, and he barely notices what he is actually saying. A journalist asks: When does this take effect? Schabowski: I think ... right now, as of ... immediately. In response, the West and East German TV stations announce the GDR boarders are open. East Berliners flock to the check points to see if this is true. Thousands gather. At 11:30pm, the guards at the first check point are eventually intimidated by the masses and open the gates. The rest is history. Tears of joy, families reunited, celebrations through the night, the fall of the iron curtain. Reunification taking its course.

A case of adaptive leadership

Changing a system is the hardest craft of leadership. It means altering something that is so much bigger than you. By definition, you cannot do it alone, and you don't know all the pieces of the puzzle. It is the art of adaptive leadership, a term coined by Harvard professor Ron Heifetz.

Together with my wonderful co-founder at LEAD, Oliver Triebel, I taught leadership at the School for Public Policy at Central European University, back then still in Budapest. Together with our students, we would use the case of the fall of the iron curtain to dissect how systems change really works. I had found an amazing documentary that beautifully spells out the weeks and months leading to the fall of the wall. At the end, there were at least some tears shed in the classroom each year – I admit some were mine. Everybody had goose bumps. The story is just so very moving. Here it is:

The miracle of Leipzig

There are many events that lead to the fall of the iron curtain. But maybe the most important seed of the change was planted not in the capital Berlin, but in Leipzig, some 150km south. A group of citizens were upset about environmental pollution. They no longer wanted to accept that the government was turning a blind eye. They also didn't want to accept that civic action and public discourse were not allowed in the GDR regime. Together with peace activists, they met on Mondays for peace prayers in the Nikolai Church. Imagine a solemn group of people in a church, praying, some talking to each other. All knowing that Stasi agents are among them. Their every move is being watched. Everybody who came was a courageous leader.

One September 4th of 1989, they also did a small demonstration outside the church, knowing that West German media are in town for a trade fair. The Stasi immediately interfered and arrested protesters. The activists would yell after the arrested friends for their names, so they could keep track of who was imprisoned. The next day, the newspaper portrayed the protesters as traitors and rowdies. The goal was to vilify them. But this strategy was wrong. They only got people interested, and the few dozens turned into hundreds and then thousands. Every Monday more people came. And every Monday, the government functionaries felt more pressure to intervene with force. After all, they reported to the Berlin headquarter and were mandated to keep law and order in the regime.

The big showdown happens on October 9, 1989. The week before, thousands of people had already gathered and marched the streets of Leipzig, but they had been dispersed by the police. On the afternoon October 9, the police force is arming up. Knifes are being welded onto the tanks. The army is readied. Machine guns are handed out, reserve officers have been called in. Some soldiers are crying on their bunk beds. They know their families will be out there this evening.

The protesters are more positive. They hope to finally achieve their goal today: to march in a full circle around the old city of Leipzig. But also here, you can smell the fear. Just a few months earlier, on June 4, protesters had been brutally massacred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Everybody in Leipzig has these pictures in mind. Outside Nikolai Church, they fly a a big red cross banner. The church will be their sick bay for the wounded they might have to expect.

At the same time, the Leipzig 6, a group of forward-looking party functionaries and city honoraries is trying everything to preserve peace that day. Among them is Kurt Masur, the famous Leipzig music conductor. He suggests printing leaflets at the concert house - there is a copy machine. But they can't get in. Everybody has left for the protest already, and Masur does not have a key. But they do have access to the city's loudspeaker system. So Masur reads a few short lines to the people in the streets. He implores them to stay peaceful and to not provoke the police.

And it works. 2,000 people gather in the Nikolai Church for peace prayers. As they finish and exit through the doors, they unite with some 70,000 citizens. They start their march around the city. Inspired by Masur, they chant. "We are no rowdies. We are no rowdies." And after a while this changes: "We are the people. We are the people."

We are the people. Not you, not the party, not the functionaries. We are.

No drop of blood is shed that day, no weapon is fired. But the system takes a heavy beating. It is the beginning of the end of the GDR. A short month later, the wall comes down.

5 lessons for leading systems change

No matter if you are a political activist or someone wanting to change organizational culture, these recommendations are for you.

1. Start a movement. Deep change cannot be mandated from the top down. It needs to take root in itself. Don't direct. Instead tap into a deeper yearning people have. A movement does not necessarily need strong leaders. What it needs is a strong cause. Is your change aimed at winning market share and maximizing shareholder profits? I am not interested. This cause has to touch me on an emotional level, and it has to be immediately relevant to my life and to creating a better world. Otherwise I will not march the streets (or corporate hallways) for it.
2. Give change a rhythm. The problem of adaptive work ist that it takes long. So you need to be mindful of people's attention spans. Especially in today's world. Create a rhythm like the Monday demonstrations did. It will make it easier for people to come back to the movement regularly, while still being allowed to just live their normal lives.
3. Manage the pressure. If there is no pressure on the system, it will not change. You need to turn up the heat. But if the heat gets too high, an explosion happens. This is what happened in China. Masur, the protesters, and many local party officials all constantly co-managed the pressure to keep the system from overheating. Even though they were on different sides of the conflict, they worked together on this. Make sure you manage the heat well, and get partners who help you control it.
4. Create powerful imagery. October 9 was so powerful because a symbol was created. Closing the loop, walking around the entire old city of Leipzig, passing the local Stasi headquarters. All of this was wildfire news that inspired and shocked people near and far. Corporate bullet points are no good for communicating change. Create powerful symbols, images and stories.
5. Go to the balcony. In the midst of change, we tend to be in the thicket of things. Ron Heifetz at Harvard calls this the dance floor. You are down were things are happening, but you lack the overview. Only if you move up to the balcony can you see what is really happening on a larger scale. Make time regularly for balcony moments. Removing yourself from the action and deeply questioning what is really going on here. Why are people reacting the way they are? Why do our senior leaders seem disinterested? Why do I feel a fatigue in the organization? Probe deeper to understand better.

I really recommend you watch the documentary, "The Miracle of Leipzig". There is also an English dubbed version, but it is extremely hard to come by. Message me on LinkedIn if you are interested.

If you want to learn more about adaptive leadership, read some of the books by Ron Heifetz, or simply check-out our course on authority and leadership at LEAD Academy (in German language).