‘But surely great soldiers would stand their ground or continue to advance, with or without leaders?’
‘All great soldiers are potential leaders if the call comes to them to lead. If the whole regiment is reduced to two privates, one will lead the other.’
‘Such an army must be almost invincible.’
‘No, it will lose battles from time to time, even campaigns and wars, for an enemy’s sheer weight of numbers and materiel, together with superior generalship, can overcome it, but no defeat will be attributed to any shortcomings in team leadership, morale or esprit de corps.’
‘If you trust people – I mean if you assume they are great like Johnson’s redcoats – don’t you run the risk that you will be let down?’
‘It is highly probable that on occasion you will be let down. Therefore as a leader you need to work out a clear policy. What is the issue? For me it is encapsulated in a remark made to me by a headmaster: If you trust boys, you will be let down; but if you do not trust them, they will do you down.’
The young chief executive laughed. ‘I know what he means,’ he said. ‘In my case it has been a matter of moving from an implicit policy of not trusting people until they have proved trustworthy to an explicit policy – I make it clear to everyone – of treating people as worthy of my full trust until they show themselves to be unreliable.’
‘And have you been shown to be wrong often?’
‘No, once or twice only. In one case it was really my fault because I put the person concerned in a position where she was out of her depth and I ignored family difficulties she was trying to cope with. The other person is someone in my senior team at present who just hasn’t responded – yet anyway – and we may have to part company.’
‘Does that lead you to alter your policy?’
‘Not at all, for I reason why should I abandon the 96 or 97 people in every hundred who are great for the sake of the two or three who fail to live up to the promise within them. So far we have talked about individuals,’ said the young chief executive, ‘but does the same principle apply to organizations?’
‘I believe it does. As you know, every organization develops its unique group personality, its culture and its prevailing climate. Often, but not always, this is shaped by the founder ’s legacy of a set of enduring values – “the way we do things here”. Hence Emerson’s principle: An institution is the lengthened shadow of one person.’
I Prefer To Have Too Much Confidence,
And Thereby Be Deceived,
Than To Be Always Mistrustful.
For In The First Case,
I Suffer For A Moment At Being Deceived,
And, In The Second, I Suffer Constantly
Paul Gauguin, quoted by Henri Perruchot in his biography of the artist
‘Where that ethos rests on that key foundation you identified – an enormous belief in people – it can have an almost tangible presence. You may have come across Charles Dickens’ description in David Copperfield of the school where David was so happy:
It was very gravely and decorously ordered, and on a sound system, with an appeal, in everything, to the honour and good faith of the boys, and an avowed intention to rely on their possession of those qualities unless they proved themselves unworthy of it, which worked wonders. We all felt that we had a part in the management of the place, and in sustaining its character and dignity. Hence, we soon became warmly attached to it.
‘That would fit any good school today,’ I added.
‘Or business company,’ said the young chief executive. ‘Haven’t we identified a fourth path of understanding up that mountain of leadership which you said was cloud-topped in mystery?’ With that he wrote on the flip chart:
What you ARE – Qualities
What you KNOW – Situational
What you DO – Functional
What you BELIEVE – Values.
Keypoints
- Leaders tend to make an assumption about human nature: they believe in the greatness that lies dormant within people.
- If you trust people, you may on occasion be let down, but much more often people will respond in ways that fully justify your confidence.
- Amazing things happen when you make people feel they are valued as individuals, when you treat them with dignity, when you show your respect for them by allowing them to exercise their own wisdom, judgement and discretion, when you invite them to be creative and to use their initiative.
- Great people deserve great leaders. Your skilled leadership is a tribute you bring to the greatness of spirit of those you are privileged to serve.
- The avowed intention to rely upon people having such qualities as humour and good faith unless they prove otherwise works wonders. It brings character and dignity to any organization.
Truth However Disenchanting Is Better
Than Falsehood However Comforting
Trust Only Those Who Have The Courage
To Contradict You With Respect
And Who Value Your Character
More Than Your Favour
Albert Schweitzer
An Ideal Is Often But A Flaming Vision Of Reality
François de Fenelon