Leaders must act, right?
But what actions can they take?
I’m not referring to thinking, talking, asking, telling or listening – I mean real action.
If we ponder this, I believe there can only be four actions.
Let me give you a scenario to illustrate this.
Mary is the new CEO of a public listed company. The company is in a loss making cycle, despite its potential. The company is a take-over target and there is a bid for it by a bigger competitor. The competitor is offering a fair price and the shareholders are close to accepting the bid, which would be good for all parties.
However, internally there is a cultural mess. Talent is threatening to leave because there are current complaints about harassment, bullying and corruption. The suspects include some senior executives.
If these matters were to be common knowledge the bid is likely to be downgraded or withdrawn.
Mary feels she has inherited a lemon. She is stressed and feels out of her depth.
Her sleepless nights are filled with conflicting thoughts and accompanying feelings.
What should she do?
She consulted her mentor, who drew this diagram:
He asked “Which of these actions could you take and what would that mean?”
Mary considered and responded “Well, to freeze is where I am now, not sure of what to do. My team is already questioning my ability to deal with the situation.”
“Where will that get you?” asked the mentor.
“Nowhere“ Mary replied.
“OK, what about flight?” he asked.
“That means I avoid or deny the truth or worse, and that’ll prove that I’m not up to it” Mary said.
“Could you fight?” queried the mentor.
“I could deal with the suspects decisively, maybe offering them a quick way out to avoid an embarrassing investigation.”
The mentor remained silent for a moment then asked “How would that look to the talent?”
Mary said “Well it would solve the immediate problem, but would breach our values.”
“How do you think the talent and the bidder would eventually view that?” the mentor asked.
“Not in my favour, my credibility could be damaged and probably be damaging to the company.” Mary replied.
“OK, what does flow mean to you?”
Mary pondered that question for a while.
Then she said “I could ensure the investigation was fully and properly activated, make sure the talent was fully informed of the action we are taking, inform the bidder of the circumstances and see what happens.”
“What would that mean?” asked the mentor.
“It would mean that I have the courage to do what is right for all parties. At least I could hold my head up high.” Mary stated with a renewed confidence.
The mentor smiled and said “Yes, when we freeze, like a rabbit caught in the spotlight – we get shot! Then there are times when we choose flight, but running away can lead to our loss. Choosing to fight can be a viable alternative too, but may come at a high price. We need to be very careful about choosing to fight. Those three alternatives are usually reactionary.
However, when we choose flow, swimming in the rapids, we display awareness, courage, strength, skill and persistence. Yet there is no guarantee that we will succeed. So what will you choose?”
“I choose flow” said Mary.
Such is the nature of leadership – your best decisions and actions may still come to naught, yet you have the awareness, courage, skill, strength and persistence to give it your best shot, for your people and for the highest value outcome.
What do you think?
