A Wicked Leadership Lesson
Patrick Leddin, PhD
Disruptive Speaker | Writer | Idea Enthusiast with a Pragmatic Edge
Several years ago, my family and I were in Chicago. We capped off a tourist's day of shopping and sightseeing with a night of theater.?
We chose - Wicked?- the touring Broadway musical.
We enjoyed the show, but what stuck with me from the performance was a line from the song,?Wonderful.
In the song, the Wizard makes an intriguing pronouncement, "The most celebrated are the rehabilitated." Not only did the line jump out at me the night of the show, but I've thought about it often over the years.
"The most celebrated are the rehabilitated." - The Wizard?
Why would this line stick with me?
I believe there is truth to the Wizard's words.
Think about it; we love a turnaround story. It's the type of stuff that makes for great literature, amazing lyrics, and compelling movies.
Whatever the reason, we root for others to recover from addiction, overcome adversity, and mend broken relationships.
The same is true at work.
The problem isn't in celebrating a rehabilitated person. As a leader, when you find someone doing the right thing, especially with a history of not doing the right thing, you should make a big deal out of it.
The problem is the word most as in, "The most celebrated are the rehabilitated.'
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Why is the word most concerning?
Consider your team or organization. You likely have three groups of performers:
If you assigned your team members to these three groups, I bet many, if not the bulk, would reside in the Solid Citizens group.
Most people are solid citizens. Most people come to work every day and do a good job. They deliver good results. They make a solid effort. They are often the backbone of the organization.
Yet, they are rarely celebrated.
We recognize them when they hit a significant milestone, like 20 years of service, or they decide to retire, but we fail to celebrate their daily contributions.
True, the Solid Citizen story may not be as exciting as the top performer, who closed the big deal, or the underperformer, who came back from hard times, but it is vital to the team's overall success.
Here are a few questions to consider about you and your team:
Take a few minutes today to recognize the Solid Citizens in your midst.
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Development Outreach and Communications Specialist at USAID
1 年Very educational. Thank you for sharing.
VP Shared Technical Services | Innovation Leader
1 年Nice article. Enjoyed the reference to Wicked
Senior consultant at Unstad
1 年This is so true. Let us take today to celebrate the solid workers, those whom do their job every day??
Turning data into strategic information. With a very broad knowledge base I quickly find gaps and nuances in source data to extract the maximum ROI.
1 年?? We forget about the people that show up every time - it takes a leader who is very aware to change this. A leader that is not burying themselves in busyness and has their head "outside the boat".
Heart-Centred Leadership / L&D / Communications Specialist ERS | Risk Management, Cert NLP Master Pract
1 年It’s like when I was learning to play squash - my ex-husband used to sit at the back of the court while I was playing, and as soon as I came off the court, he would recount every error or shortcoming (despite not being a particularly good player himself!!). Finally, feeling deeply discouraged, dismayed and frustrated, I asked him, “ Don’t I do ANYTHING right?!?” His reply was astonishing - he said, “Doesn’t the fact that I don’t mention it tell you that you got it right?” I immediately and emphatically replied, “NO! I need to HEAR it!” Now whenever I retell this story, I typically add, “So you can see why he’s now the ex!” ??