Leadership Signs

I was driving to an appointment the other day when a white panel van zoomed past me in the right hand lane. I was a little peeved because the two lane road we were on was merging into a single lane and the right hand lane was the one that was ending, in about 50 feet. I had some immediate thoughts about the other driver. It’s amazing how quickly you can size up a person and determine their evil intent when tucked behind a steering wheel. Somehow, our perceptual powers are enhanced while driving our carbon fueled vehicles. I don’t think people who drive hybrids or electric powered cars have quite the same mental powers. It may have something to do with the amount of dinosaur juice the vehicle consumes. It might be the fumes. Anyway, I digress. My immediate interpretation of the other driver was that he was a thoughtless SOB. As I powered forward to get a better view of the back of the guy’s head – for cranial analysis – I noticed that he was driving a work van for a company that does kitchen and bathroom renovations. I’m not going to disclose the name. The van had a lot of information about the company – its name, telephone number, website address, etc. It also had one of those signs that roughly reads “Please call 1-800-555-SAFE if I’m driving like an idiot and you’d like to report my dangerous and discourteous behavior.” That kind of made me chuckle. Then I got thinking, “This guy is a mobile billboard for his company.” He’s telling the rest of world something of significance about his employer. I thought a little further. I played around with attributing positive intent to my fast motoring friend. “He is a very time-conscious individual who wants to make sure that he gets to the client’s location on time. He probably skipped lunch to stay at his last work site a little longer so he could double check the bathroom fixtures he installed. What a good guy! It’s not like he ran me off the road or anything.” I could see myself hiring the company to do work at my home. Then I examined the shadow side of this menace to society. “This guy is perpetually late. He was probably having a couple of cold ones over lunch. He realizes that he messed up and now is driving like a bat out of hell so he doesn’t get chewed out by the customer and his boss. He doesn’t care who he inconveniences, cuts off or kills along the way. What a jerk! I wouldn’t hire this guy’s company if they did the work for free.”

There are two learning points here. The first is that we are very quick to judge other people based on snippets of information. If there were surveillance tapes of any of us during a typical day, it could be easily edited down to show a cacophony of bad behavior. Personally, I want to be judged on the balance of my actions over time, not on my individual blunders alone. I want others to see me when I am at my best so that they will cut me some slack when I’m at my worst. Others deserve the same grace. It’s best to suspend judgment until we have more information (preferably facts) and get to know someone as a person. This is especially important rule to follow for people in leadership roles. Leaders have what I call a “ripple influence” within an organization. The actions, behaviors and judgments of leaders are visible to others and can impact people in favorable or unfavorable ways.

In effect, each leader in an organization wears a sign. This is the second, and primary, learning point. The negatively inclined may see the sign as a target. I prefer to see it similar to the white paneled van driver and his rolling advertisement. Leaders are mobile representatives of their organizations, literally and figuratively. Most employees form perceptions and opinions about their companies through the experience they have with their leaders. As an entity, an organization doesn’t really have a voice or a face, but leaders do. Organizations don’t behave honorably or dishonorably, but leaders do. You get the message. When you step into a leadership role, you in essence put a sign around your neck. It’s a good thing because leaders need to operate in the bright light of day and should be subject to reasonable scrutiny. With leadership comes accountability. It should be a sobering thing. It should encourage those who are leaders to always strive to act with conscience and competence.

It appears that our country, and perhaps our world, expects more accountability and integrity from its leaders than ever before. We need good leaders; especially ones who can help guide us through the perilous and uncertain times we face. This requires that we invest in the development of leaders and that we reward them when they produce good results and successfully honor the trust and authority they have been given. We also need to be discerning about how we judge our leaders when they make mistakes. Most mistakes can be corrected. Well-intentioned but flawed people can be forgiven. We need to use the right standards and measures – ones we are willing to apply to ourselves. Perhaps we should all wear the “Please call 555...” sign just to raise the bar for everyone and keep us behaving at our best.