Watching the State of the Union Address and the Republican Response this week, I realized that we live with a leadership model designed for zero-sum gain. Real progress in our nation’s capitol is not being made, not because we do not know what to do, but because we are not willing to implement what we know. Neither side is wiling to yield the stage of success to the other side for the fear that the public will perceive the opposition as the winner, the catalyst and the miracle worker and will thus get an unfair amount of the credit and reward, relegating their own team to second place losers.
The real fear is that if the Republicans were to actually help Obama solve the financial crisis in a way that truly serves the nation, rather than special interests, the public would see Obama as the reason for success; we would view his leadership as the keystone. Likewise, if the Democrats were to suddenly reach across the aisle and solve a problem while the Republicans have control of the House, it would look like progress is only being made because the Republican’s are in the driver’s seat. Republican leadership would be extolled as the superior methodology. And since neither side is willing to yield that kind of political capital and power to the other, things are moving at a glacial pace. The heavy price of this strategy is being paid by employees, not CEOs; by the environment, not corporations; by the citizens, not the politicians.
Harry Truman once said: “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” Hmmm. If only.
When did we confuse leadership with autocratic, absolute rule dictatorship, that “my way or the highway” attitude? Leadership isn’t about getting our way regardless of the fallout and causalities inflicted along the way. Leadership is about influence, restraint, and the ability to lead the people for whom we are responsible to new heights, to new possibilities and to a reality far greater than any of us could achieve on our own. It’s about connection, collaboration and creation.
The most powerful and effective leaders recognize that they don’t have all the answers. They don’t think that just because they “make the big bucks” they’re always right, with carte blanche to do what they want. Powerful leaders capitalize on their teams; they draw insight, knowledge and perspective from a wide array of sources including those with whom they disagree.
So let me ask you, what kind of leader are YOU? And by leader I mean both kinds, the inward leader and the outward leader; the leader of self and the leader of others.
Are you a “Damned if You Do/Damned if You Don’t” kind of leader, that is, a leader who leaves people no way out? No matter what they do; you will focus on the flaws and mistakes or the things they could have done better? Are you one who takes the idea of accountability to a new low, leaving people no room to make a mistake and, if they make one, no time to correct it, a one strike and you’re out kind of guy? Do you treat people as “only as good as their last mistake?”
Or, are you a courageous leader who recognizes that accountability means holding people to their personal level of greatness; looking at mistakes and failures as stepping stones, course corrections, insights and opportunities rather than indictments and evidence against them? Are you courageous enough as a leader to be wrong or to empower your team even if their solutions are different than yours? Are you the kind of courageous leader that is willing to meet people where they are, rather than where you wish they were, and to recognize that it’s not just about you? Leadership is not about consensus, it’s about collaboration. What could be built if it didn’t matter who got the credit? What a powerful leadership question!
Our politicians seem to forget that they all play for the same team, Team Congress, and what they view as “opponents” are simply fellow team members on Team USA. They lack the strength to let an “opponent” within their organization contribute, win, and be a viable participant in the solution. If you follow their example you will always settle for the lowest common denominator. You will never reach the pinnacle or true success, achieve the impossible, or awaken a dormant soul. Instead, a genuine leader draws people in from all sides because there is something to learn from every perspective and everyone wants to be a part of a greatness above right and wrong, above party lines, above ego. Now that’s True Leadership.
