12

Towering Conclusions and
Further Strategies

Art is the language of depth.

— PETER KOESTENBAUM

It is in the nature of leaders to seek expansion, and so they continually seek to expand their leadership capabilities. In general, there are three approaches that leaders take in order to become better leaders:

1.They play to whatever gift they have been given, using that which already comes most naturally to them and that also produces success.

2.They bring aspects of themselves to their leadership that they previously thought were inappropriate, or that they never thought to bring.

3.They develop new competencies such as those described in earlier chapters.

Playing to a Gift

Matt Catingub is a clear example of a leader who plays to his gift. His enthusiasm for his music, and for delighting audiences, is well known among his fans. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin draws this picture: “On stage, Catingub . . . seems everywhere: conducting, playing saxophone, woodwind, or piano, singing, and bantering with audiences in a talk story style.”¹ But his career as a band leader did not begin that way.

Catingub first led a big band in Los Angeles when he was twenty-one years old, having already been a professional musician for nearly four years. He put the band together with seasoned professionals. He says, “Most symphony orchestras in the world are very regimented.” Catingub does not like regimentation.

Then he decided to put together a swing band. Rather than do it in the usual way by picking veteran musicians, he toured California colleges and universities to hear young musicians. Here is how he describes the result: “I ended up putting together a band of probably 50 percent really, really great players, 25 percent OK players, and probably 25 percent not so OK players, but because their attitudes were so great I decided to keep them. And that pretty much sums up what I like to see. I would much rather have the enthusiastic younger player, who is willing to work at it than the established veteran who thinks he is so good that they don’t need to do anything except show up and find out what time the break is. That was my concept, and it paid off in spades because of what I got. I got a beyond enthusiastic bunch of guys and gals; all they wanted to do was play and make music.”

In this story it appears that Catingub was merely deciding on the composition of his band, but there is something else going on as well. Gary Zukav described what else is going on in this way: “Each decision requires that you choose which parts of yourself you want to cultivate, and which parts you want to release.”² Catingub made conscious use of the self-knowledge that he does not like regimentation and that his gift resides in his ability to communicate his enthusiasm for the music. He not only decided on the composition of the band, he also made decisions about what part of himself he wanted to appear when he lead his orchestra. He did not want the regimented part he so dislikes, but the enthusiastic part that is his gift. In choosing band members he selected those people he wanted to have around him in order for him to lead well, and to bring his own gift forward. He said, “I try to have a very, very loose atmosphere. I like having musicians remember when they first started playing music. What was it they liked about it? It is because it was fun. To me attitude has got to be 80 percent of it.”

Kathy Covert is another leader who is aware of and plays to her gift. Covert, unlike Catingub, does not get to select the people she leads. Still, she possesses knowledge of her gift and the ability to bring it to situations when it is needed. She said, “If I have a gift it is the capacity to hold contradictions and to hold the big picture and to hold what is possible.” When an organization is going off track, or when difficult questions seem to have no obvious right answer, it can count on Covert to remind it of its ultimate destination. Covert said that a leader must, “Know what the gift is and continue to give it.”

A leader’s initial success at winning commitment of any kind is often achieved when her gift meets the needs of a group of people. Catingub’s gift meets the needs of his musicians and of his audience. Covert’s gift is essential to organizations that need to be reminded of where they are headed. Monsignor Dale Fushek clearly expressed the relationship between a leader’s gift and her success. He said that God gave him two gifts: “One was courage, because I really am not afraid to fail. The other is the ability to find the right person to do the right job. Those two things have helped me to succeed.”

A natural gift may provide the key that unlocks the door to leadership. The gift normally appeals to one or the other of intellectual, emotional, or spiritual commitment. Kathy Covert’s gift appeals to the mind; she prompts people to remember the big picture, the story they have agreed to live out. Matt Catingub’s and Mary Ellen Hennen’s gifts appeal to the emotions. Catingub wants audiences to enjoy hearing the music, and musicians to enjoy playing the music, and Hennen wants to foster hope, to “Get people moving towards doing things that they never thought they could do.” Monsignor Fushek’s courage is a pull to the spirit; the courage to take risks inspires others to do the same.

Uncovering the Self

The second way that leaders develop is to bring to their leadership some aspect of themselves with which they are familiar, but one others have not experienced. Here is an example. The CEO of a foreign division for a large American company was one of those executives who are sent in to clean up wretched situations. He had been, throughout his career, very successful at doing this. His way of improving these situations was, in his own words, to “kick butt.” One member of his management team described him as “abusive.” Many members of his management team were afraid of him.

Then he was passed over for a larger assignment. The corporate CEO, his boss, told him that, although they would have loved to have his skills and knowledge in the new assignment, his style had abraded too many people. The new assignment would have brought him home from his foreign outpost to corporate headquarters, something he very much wanted because his children and grandchildren lived nearby. The implication was that some people at headquarters preferred that he be kept at a distance. The CEO told him that his style, although useful to the company, had become career limiting.

During a session with an executive coach he talked about his relationships with his grandchildren, saying, “I spend my time with them enjoying them and helping them to learn.” His coach suggested that he try that approach with those around him at work, enjoying them and helping them to learn. He agreed to try it. He asked the people around him about their hopes and dreams, about their career plans and the problems they were facing in their work. He asked how he might help, and he listened and followed through. Two years later he was awarded the assignment he wanted at the corporate headquarters.

Uncovering a hidden aspect of the self allows a leader to bring an entire set of behaviors to a situation that is congruent with both who he is and also with the requirements of the situation. It means uncovering some existing part of the self, not learning new behavior. Too often we bring misconceptions or unproductive habits to our various life and work roles, including our leadership roles. We behave in stereotypical ways, or ways that do not serve us or those around us. Executives and managers are particularly prone to these mistakes because they and their followers have so many preconceived notions about how they are supposed to be, and because they tend to emulate those who managed them in the past rather than seek their own best way.

Self-Development

Leadership, more often than not, requires leaders to extend beyond their natural gifts and previously hidden aspects of themselves. Marvin Israelow’s bid for a seat on the Chappaqua school board necessitated that he learn how to advocate for a particular point of view, and how to mobilize people. Mary Ellen Hennen had to exorcise her desire to be in control. Alice Harris had to learn to never be ashamed to ask for help. Kathy Covert had to learn to appreciate the significance of good processes. She said, “Earlier in my career the process was not as challenging . . . now it is a much more complex environment in which leaders exercise their influence.” To illustrate what she has had to learn, she quotes management theorist Margaret Wheatley: “We do not support what we do not help to create.” Covert has had to learn to lead human processes that are inclusive. She is also aware of other aspects of her leadership that she needs to develop: “One of the challenges of my leadership style is to be more supportive of people who are learning.” And she knows intellect is her gift and that it is not enough. She says, “My head is my strong suit. Emotions—that is where I need the exercise.”

If you are reading this book from beginning to end and have finished the chapters that describe the ten competencies for winning intellectual, emotional, and spiritual commitment, you probably know what you need to learn—which competencies you need to develop. Figure 12-1 provides a handy summary of the competencies and of the development strategies for each of them. The lists of development strategies are not intended as comprehensive inventories, but as beginning suggestions.

Knowledge of the specific competencies that a leader needs to develop is a good framework for whatever action she might take next. If training is pursued, the training should address those competencies. If further reading is pursued, it too can be targeted at those competencies.

How to Choose a Mentor or Coach

Two of the most popular and powerful ways of developing leadership are to find a mentor and to hire a coach. Jim Wold provided a way to think about the difference between a mentor and a coach: “Mentoring is, ‘Be as good as I am.’ Coaching is, ‘Be all that you can be, which is going to be a heck of a lot better than I am.’ ” Both are valuable. A mentor ought to be someone who has been in the same or a similar situation to that of the leader, and who mastered the competencies that leader needs to develop. A coach ought to be someone who can help a leader to develop the specific competencies he wants to develop, whether or not the coach has ever been in a similar situation. A coach also ought to be able to help a leader clarify his gift, identify aspects of the leader that have been kept separate from leadership, and help the leader bring those gifts and aspects forward. A coach also ought to be expert at helping a leader see that to which he is blind, ought to help place leadership efforts in the larger context of a whole and balanced life, and ought to have the skills and the courage to give useful feedback.

Feedback, in particular, is essential to any attempt to improve leadership. It is a sad fact: The more authority a leader acquires, the more he needs feedback, and the less feedback is offered. Mentors, coaches, trainers, associates, family members and friends, and even rivals and those who are reluctant to follow—all can be sources of useful feedback. New York City’s former mayor, Edward Koch, used to roam the city asking, “How am I doing?” Sometimes he heard about what was going well, and sometimes he heard things that he would rather not have heard. But his proactive stance about seeking feedback, if not his method, is valuable for any leader to emulate. In other words, with regard to feedback, leaders ought not wait for it, they ought to ask for it.

SUMMARY OF COMPETENCIES AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Figure 12-1. Table of leadership competencies and development strategies.

Individual mentors and coaches have their own have biases towards mind, heart, or spirit. Leaders should find someone who can help them develop in whichever area they most need to stretch themselves. Over time, any leader may want many mentors and many coaches, each for a specific need.

When looking for leadership trainers, mentors, or coaches, also look beyond the realm of those who call themselves trainers, mentors, or coaches; be sure to also look for experts in specific areas. For example, if competence at storytelling is needed, hire a storyteller or go to a storytelling workshop. If skill at improvising is needed, go to an improvisational actor’s workshop or talk with a jazz musician. If the capacity for insight needs development, go on a retreat and practice meditation. Leaders should not allow their own development to be limited by the limits of their trainers, mentors, or coaches.

Genuineness

Whether leaders choose to play to their gifts, or to extend themselves in an act of self-development, or to bring forward some part of themselves they have previously kept out of sight, the new self they bring forward must be genuine. Most people can spot phoniness and will not offer commitment to anyone who appears phony.

Genuineness is not problematic when a leader is playing to her gifts. Gifts come naturally and spontaneously, and are obviously part of who the leader is. Genuineness is problematic, however, when a leader is developing a new competency to add to her leadership repertoire, or is bringing an aspect of the self forward that has previously been hidden. New behavior is often accompanied by clumsiness. Also, leaders get into routines with the people around them, and changes in a leader’s behavior, no matter how well-intentioned, sometimes cause alarm in others. For example, when the executive whose story is told above began to bring his “grandfatherly” self to work, his own assistant worried that he was getting ready to fire her. She was worried because, she said, “He has been unusually nice to me lately.”

The best thing leaders can do when they are developing a new competency, or are adding new behavior to their leadership repertoires, or are bringing an aspect of the self forward that has been hidden, is to own up to it. Leaders are human beings, and followers appreciate being let in on this fact when it means the leader is trying to become better at what he does.

Practicing an Art Form

Some quotes stick in the mind after their source is lost and seems unrecoverable. For this author one such quote is, “Never trust a leader who is not also an artist.” Or something very close to that. The quote can be interpreted in two ways. The first interpretation is that only those leaders who also practice an art form other than leadership can be trusted. This interpretation rings true. Matt Catingub is a musician and a trusted leader. Bill Strickland is a potter and a trusted leader. Beverly O’Neill directed a choir and is a trusted leader. Pat Croce and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi are trusted leaders who have authored or coauthored books. Each of them has learned something about leadership by practicing an art. The second interpretation is that only leaders who recognize leadership itself is an art form can be trusted. This also rings true. Leaders who are able to win high commitment do appreciate the artistry that leadership entails.

Practicing an art form of any kind develops intuition and insight, and it tests the capacity for vision. A body of work created by a single artist represents that artist’s personal story, and, in so far as any work of art is shared with others, it can mobilize them intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. The practice of any art form will enlarge self-awareness, and will challenge the artist to engage emotionally with his subject, as well as with an audience. Art can render meaning that is deeply spiritual, and can confront an artist and an audience, forcing them to clarify their beliefs. Finally, as M. C. Richards has pointed out, practicing an art form provides a powerful metaphor—centering—that relates not only to leadership, but to the whole of life itself.

Leaders ought to hang out with potters, actors, musicians; with those who create. They need not ask artists about their works, but rather about their process. A leader’s process is also intended to create. Yes, a leader’s media is different: story, feeling, and soul. Yes, the competencies are also different: those for winning intellectual, emotional, and spiritual commitment. But artists can help leaders learn about the process of creating.

Better yet—leaders ought to practice an art form, a form other than leadership. They can transfer the wealth of learning from whatever art form they choose to their own personal and very unique leadership art.

Four Towering Conclusions

All of the experience, thinking, testing and probing, interviewing, research, discussion, and observation that spawned the understanding presented in this book thus far also yielded four conclusions; their importance towers above everything else that has been said. Each has been discussed or alluded to already, and what follows is a summary by way of ending.

The first conclusion is that people commit to other people, so anyone who wishes to lead, to win the commitment of others in order to create change, must become the kind of person who attracts commitment. This is the lesson, reported in Chapter 4, that Monsignor Dale Fushek learned from Mother Teresa. It is more than a matter of learning competencies. It is a matter of living a life. As Jim Ellis said, “How wonderful would it be if you were known through your life as ‘Honest Abe’? How much could you do? Wouldn’t that be amazing, to have that reputation?”

The second towering conclusion is that a compelling insight about the needs or aspirations of a group of people is far more important to winning commitment than is a vision. Visions that truly compel are founded on such insights and are faithful to them. The third towering conclusion is that, for the job of leadership, reflection is not time away from the job but an integral part of the job. Bill Strickland said it best: “You have to reflect on why you are doing what you are doing . . . or you are lost.”

And the final towering conclusion is that, in order for a leader to win exceptional commitment, equal concentration on mind, heart, and spirit is not optional; it is essential.

Notes

1.Tim Ryan, “10 Who Made a Difference: Matt Catingub,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin (December 30, 2002).

2.Gary Zukav, The Seat of the Soul (N.Y.: Fireside, 1990): 138.