Thoughts on Leadership

In 1889, long before he became President of the US, Woodrow Wilson wrote a piece called ‘Leaders of Men’. In it he uses an anecdote that, for me, best captures the metaphor of leadership and its inherent tensions. He describes it as follows:

The captain of a Mississippi steamboat had made fast to the shore because of a thick fog lying upon the river. The fog lay low and dense upon the surface of the water, but overhead all was clear. A cloudless sky showed a thousand points of starry light. An impatient passenger inquired the cause of the delay. “We can’t see to steer,” said the captain. “But all’s clear overhead,” suggested the passenger, “you can see the North Star.” “Yes,” replied the officer, “but we are not going that way.” Politics must follow the actual windings of the channel of the river: if it steers by the stars it will run aground.

There are two different kinds of captains. One sails on the oceans, and sets his or her course by the stars – fixed, absolute, certain. The other sails down rivers, and navigates according to the bends and winding curves of the banks to each side – changing, responsive, adaptive. Wilson describes the politician as leading much like moving downstream; he sees where the river turns, ahead, and gets the ship through.

A good leader, while being sensitive to river conditions, should navigate by the stars. There must be some vision that exists apart from the constraints of the riverbank, an idea and sense of direction and purpose that is imaginative, creative, transcendent. The good leader must be able not only to chart this course, but to ‘guide the ship’ through, which implies the ability to mobilise and excite people toward a common goal. The establishment of vision is critical, as is the ability to facilitate cooperative and empowered participation toward the achievement of this vision.

Every good leader must be partnered with a good manager. This is not to imply that they are necessarily distinct, as both must display overlapping skills. But the question is one of emphasis. The good manager, while knowledgeable of star patterns, should navigate by the river’s flow. The manager understands the intricacies of context and conditions, and is able to safely establish parameters for action, process, delegation of responsibilities, and flows of information – all in order to get the ship safely downstream.

Both leaders and managers, stepping away from the analogy, must be able to deal well with ideas and with people. This is a behaviour that can be learned. Sometimes leadership is associated with charisma. This Greek word, meaning ‘gift of the gods,’ was first used by sociologist Max Weber to describe an aspect of leaders that he did not understand. Yet it is possible to demystify charisma through establishing the particular characteristics demonstrated by individual leaders that prove most successful. Marshall Sashkin, in composing the Leader Behavior Questionnaire (LBQ), argues that there are five factors that help to explain what leaders do that makes them so successful. These behaviour categories are:

- clarity (the ability to focus others’ attention on key ideas, making vivid and visual the key aspects of the leader’s vision, such as through metaphors),

- communication (skills such as active listening and giving and receiving feedback well),

- consistency (‘saying what you mean and meaning what you say,’ i.e. demonstrating integrity of purpose and action to build trust over time),

- caring (demonstrating respect and concern for people, including in the ‘little’ things),

- creating opportunities (empowering followers to accept and take on challenges, while taking care to minimise risk and to not demand overmuch from them).

These five behaviours, among others, can and should be practiced by good leaders and good managers. What is perhaps most important is the willingness to grow, being open to improvement, upgrading, even critique. This is the lesson I have learned from my father, who has been in high positions of leadership: he was always learning, always thinking, and always prepared to receive counsel; in this way, he has continued to develop his leadership skills.

To return to the metaphor, if we envision this sea captain at the helm of the ship, she still holds her compass and ponders the night sky, with a clear vision of where they must go. At her side stands the river captain, managing the ship’s resources and guaranteeing that they are able to make safe passage. Both listen to and encourage the crew, such that the crew members feel an integral part of the voyage and are able to contribute uniquely. In this way, the crew as a whole is able to avoid being bogged down by lethargy or routine, and to adventure together toward uncharted territory.