Passion and Capability - Chapter 9

As I worked through the myriad of issues within this organization, I found that specific behaviors could easily be put into three separate categories...

Those that were beneficial...

Those that were detrimental...

Those that just didn't make sense!

Categorization was a matter of perspective and driven by the intended goals...

If one was altruistic...the "buckets" looked entirely different from the categorizations driven by self-serving motives.

This was one of those epiphanies of the utterly obvious...and a flag to me that I needed to shift my focus from the issues to those things that drove the behaviors...

This brought back a conversation that we had quite a while back on where a true leader stands in the organization...

"Leadership is not at the head...it is the heart," he told me...

"Many leaders (by nature of their title) misconstrue their place in an organization,"

"They think that they drive the organization from the top...when they should be among the organization..."

"What a leader hopes to achieve must permeate the organization...if a leader thinks that his or her influence can trickle down...they must also believe that when they play the game "telephone" their message is conveyed accurately and without change..."

"That is the crux of change management..."

"An effective change manager identifies two things who the real leaders are...and what needs to change..."

"Leaders who sit in their office...and drive an organization from the security of walnut and velvet...are simply figureheads...they can not effectively influence an organization..."

"This sets the stage for internal strife...and actually a very subtle mutiny..."

"The internal leaders take over...more often than not...they are self-serving...and deceptive..."

These low level leaders subvert the real mission of the organization to keep their position...or make their bonuses"

"The important thing is that it is easy to spot who is really in control...by first looking at the general personality of the organization...and then identifying (matching) the organization's personality with an individual..."

"To change an organization...you have to change that individual..."

"Change takes on many forms...from changing their personal motives...to changing that individual out of the organization..."

He was really good at organizational change...

He fully understood the role he played in the organizational drama...and that many lives hinged on his decisions...organizations trusted his opinions...and more often than not followed his direction...

He worked diligently to first change motives...

If that failed...he had no qualms about suggesting the termination of the relationship...

He was the king of fierce conversations...he up front...told those people that things needed to change...and not just the behaviors...but the foundation upon which they were built...he put everyone on notice...

Some stayed...others left...

He always tried his best...because he knew that few if any of the people that he was working with could get positions like they have if they had to search outside...

What bothered me was not the categorizations of beneficial or detrimental...those were easy to understand...

I had no understanding of those behaviors that just didn't make sense...

Perhaps this is why it didn't make sense...a vicious circle that I needed to understand and rectify...

"Not all information can be gleaned through observation"

"That is one of the basic leadership failures..."

"Sometimes you have to be a part of the data source, to understand the data itself..."

"You are a leader...and perhaps...you are falling prey to the leadership conundrum itself..."

He often spoke to me cryptically...I think he did so that I would think through his statement and really learn and make it part my being...rather than just intellectualizing...it often frustrated me...

"Just tell me what to do...instead of telling me what to think about..." I would say out of frustration...

"He would respond with, "I just told you what to do...and if thinking about it is what you need to do...then think about it!"

He always put me in my place...

I was often impatient...he knew what it took to grow a perfect redwood...and he was will to do what it took...including the time element..."

As I reflected on this conversation...I realized that I already had what I needed to to put this organization on the right track...he had planted the seeds...

If I were to see him for this reason alone...the conversation would just be a replay from the past...

He was that consistent...

He often said, "Didn't we talk about this before? I thought you grasped it...I am not changing my opinion..."

And he was right...

Over time...I learned not to rehash...old topics...but only bring up new challenges...

I thought before I spoke and spoke before I acted...

More often than not...I could apply what I already knew...

In a way...I realized that he was always beside me...

and his thoughts guided me...sometimes I took his advice...other times I went entirely against it...but it was there...and it made a positive difference...

It was at that moment that I learned to enjoy who he was...

I no longer had to bother him with my petty issues...

Now even the "senseless" started to make sense...

It was understanding and real empathy that made the difference...

It was about being "in" and not at...

It was about real engagement and connection...

Leadership is about true passion...that permeates the organization from the inside...not from the head...

They didn't need it...I did...

I called him...and we went fishing...