Chapter 8 - An engaging and motivating

leadership style

Strategic questioning is a fundamental leadership skill. The leader’s ability to make

the right choices will reassure everyone about the direction to follow and the
meaning given to action. A leader must assert her credibility through her
commitment, and a style of leadership that will encourage employees’ desire and
freedom to follow her. They will in turn be able to take on a leadership role, allowing
the organization to move from a leader-follower mode to a leader-leader mode. To
initiate movement, this style must encompass three essential aspects: first, the
leader's long-term personal commitment; secondly, his or her ability to communicate
and make sense of the common goal, and thirdly, his or her willingness to involve
employees in decisions that concern them, so that they, in turn, feel responsible and
engaged.

The leader's personal commitment

The first thing expected from a leader is personal commitment to the choices
available. In the Toyota case, we saw the high level of engagement of all executives
in one direction, thus pulling the whole organization towards the customer, while
making the flow of operations visible and concrete, and as close as possible to the
reality in the field. This long-term commitment of leaders, at all levels, is essential in
building the requisite confidence and sense of reassurance. Strategic competence
that shows the way forward is not enough. If employees feel that their superiors are
not resolute and convinced about a given project, they will not be inclined to follow
them, even if they consider them competent.

Thus, the first question that employees ask themselves before engaging concerns
the level of conviction and determination of their superior. Is she driven by a sense of
mission, or by her personal interest and the search for power and status? Does the
leader work for the health and survival of the organization, or for himself? Of course,
personal self-interest and that of the company can co-exist. This may encourage
some to take risks in leading the organization in uncharted territory. However, a
leader overly focused on her ego and the search for personal profit reveals herself
as such quite quickly, especially if she rapidly changes positions without suffering the
consequences of her previous actions.

Caring for others first

Leaders should care for the interests of others and their reports before themselves. It
even makes sense to expect these same leaders to help their collaborators
participate in decisions to create successful teams. Richard Branson, the famous
British entrepreneur known for the success of the Virgin brand, shows this
determination by putting his employees first, customers second and shareholders
third. Let's not forget that this is a prescriptive learning model. These good intentions
are likely to fade quickly in the heat of the moment and immediate results.

Determined, resilient and committed leaders, working over the long

term
Faced with stress, administrative and budgetary negotiations, or market uncertainty,
leaders, at all levels, must show determination and confront the unexpected. Their
strength of character is their strength of conviction. By focusing on limited goals and
priorities, and persistently pushing in the same direction, they should overcome
obstacles. It should be noted, however, that in an increasingly complex and volatile
environment, a leader can easily delude himself or herself by claiming to serve the
organization while pursuing his or her sole interest. However, they will be judged on
the facts, and the way they behave and embody their commitments. To believe the
strategic message, you have to trust the messenger. The best way to establish
credibility is to follow talk with action and set an example.

Leading by Example
A leader also communicates through his or her style of behavior. They serve as a
model and lead the way because they are watched, especially since, in today's
media-saturated world, they reveal ever more about themselves. Her physical
stature, her style of interaction can help, but above all, she is expected to lead by
example, to be a part of the story she tells and move from speech to action, so that
in the end she and the strategy are but one, as the dancer is to the dance. To
paraphrase Gandhi, be the change you want to see in the world.

This is not to say that one must want to be true, authentically oneself, because it can
lead to a contradiction with the way in which one must act at a given moment. Some
situations require a great capacity for self-regulation and emotional stability to remain
natural and credible in accordance with what the circumstances require. The leader
is expected to show energy and courage, to decide and confront risk, by
demonstrating resilient optimism in difficult situations. Who's going to want to follow a
pessimistic leader?

This brings us back to emotional intelligence, the ability to know oneself, and to
become aware of one's behavior and its impact on others. It's hard to lead and
motivate others if we can't manage ourselves.

Thus, the learning leadership model requires determined, committed leaders over
the long-term, to build trust and engagement for all. It also calls for these leaders to
be able to communicate and share their strategic vision and priorities with sufficient
conviction to, in turn, enable employees to engage and find meaning in their actions.
Share the vision and make the common goal
intelligible
Strategic vision and priorities are only useful if they are shared by as many people as
possible, for one, and implemented as well. It is therefore necessary to find the right
way to communicate them, and explain the rationale for change and its
consequences to all employees so that they will follow the momentum.

Communication thus unfolds at each hierarchical level and extends from unit to unit,
providing an integrated vision. This sharing will be that much more effective when
teams will have had the opportunity to participate in the reflection from the start.
Credibility requires both to be clear about what is being communicated, and to be
sure that it has been heard and understood. This is not passive information that is
being merely transmitted, but actively shared information. It allows everyone to
question the direction followed and anticipate what is expected of them. This reduces
cognitive overload and allows for better performance. Even if the future is not rosy, it
becomes that much more possible to prepare for what may happen.

Putting the vision into perspective by telling a story

A good way to communicate and share the strategy is to translate it into a simple
narrative that is easy to relate to everyone's concerns. It then becomes possible to
combine this narrative with the neural networks in people's heads, and, thus, to paint
a coherent and reassuring picture of the situation. Our mind is constantly looking for
explanation and meaning to predict and anticipate what may happen. We have an
insatiable need to bundle a set of facts and ideas into a coherent, credible and
familiar story. And once this story is settled upon, we will seek to confirm it, even if
this may mislead us. Thus, the story must explain the reasons for choices, and the
problems to be solved, by clarifying what the starting and end points are, and how
the journey will unfold. The story explains how things will improve in the future and
how everyone is concerned and can contribute. But is it convincing enough to
persuade others to believe and participate? It will be all the more so than it will
embrace the personal and professional concerns of each individual by giving them
the feeling of belonging to a united community that shares the same culture and
values. It can also play on the feeling of participating in something new, great, and
exciting, that will allow everyone to give meaning and value to their contribution.

In this way, employees will be all the more willing to share the strategic vision as
they will be able to find deep motivations that engage them in the long term. Humans
are curious animals, looking for experiences that give meaning to their lives. We
need autonomy to master what we do, and also to belong to a group or community
that respects us. The organization thus becomes a good place to live and work, by
offering personal time to innovate, the opportunity to work from home, or to find a
better balance between work and private life. This brings us back to the well-known,
albeit too good to be true story of the janitor who worked at NASA and responded,
when President Kennedy asked him what he was doing: "I'm helping send a man to
the moon." It is the equivalent of the stonemason who built a cathedral. Fine words,
but let's not forget that this is an ideal learning model.
In reality, it is not always easy to make sense of one's work, as many tasks seem to
bring little added value, and many unnecessary activities occur which should be
phased out. These may be repair or selection activities related to insufficient quality,
or measurement and counting operations that have lost their direct utility with the
development of new production approaches. To maintain a sense of meaning in this
type of work, it is important to focus on dealing with the waste and the lack of quality
that clutter these processes. It is thus possible to regain a sense of meaningful work
by improving or eliminating activities that have become useless. This task is endless
because everything is constantly evolving.

Let us now turn to the third aspect of the leadership style to aim for: ensuring that
everyone can play a leadership role.

Getting people involved in decision-making.

All leaders and all responsible.
Showing one's commitment, and sharing the strategy and priorities, are not enough
to ensure the support of the largest number if the manager does not reduce his grip
on the results and redistribute agency to the various actors.

Involving individuals in decisions that concern them allows them to move from a
leader-follower to a leader-leader framework. In the leader-follower framework, the
executive head tells employees what to do, and either they don't listen and nothing
happens, or they obey and merely follow. In the leader-leader framework, power and
cooperation revert to all levels, from the apex to the field, by extending participation
in decision-making and allocating power to a greater number of collaborators, who,
in turn, become responsible leaders.

Taking ownership of one's work process

Exploring and executing becomes everyone's business, from executives at the
highest level, whose decisions influence the entire organization, to operators on the
ground or employees at the customer interaction coalface. They then have a
responsibility and authority enshrined in the structure of the organization. Whether
they work within a department, on a project, a production process or in customer
service, they are in a position to seize and act upon an opportunity for innovation or
improvement. This decision-making and control power allows them to take
ownership of their work. They also have the freedom to try new things and potentially
make mistakes in their learning journey. Better yet, they can use their autonomy to
broaden their scope and cooperate with each other through reciprocity, flexibility and
versatility. With the proliferation of leaders who have the means and the appropriate
measures to enable control, there is no longer a need for so many performance
indicators along the hierarchy. Information relevant to control and improvement is
close to the coalface, where it is easier to question the status quo and explore
opportunities for innovation.
Power to act and responsibility
This determination to delegate and allocate agency, rather than being fixated on a
pre-planned outcome, forces many leaders to give back some of the hard-earned
power they had accrued while reaching their current position. By taking a step back,
they allow others greater agency, while strengthening transversal collaboration and
cooperation and reducing hierarchy, rules and complexity. A sense of greater agency
makes employees more accountable and the organization more flexible and resilient.

This exercise in distancing oneself, this new leadership behavior, is earned by

testing oneself and practicing delegation according to the context and
professionalism of the employees. It applies in the routine environment of a
production line, or when managing a complex, technical project, and in projects
where success depends on the organization's capacity for innovation.

It should be noted that when delegation functions well, hierarchical control is partly
replaced by social pressure within teams as they become more autonomous and
accountable. Structures are simplified and many middle managers lose power or are
terminated.

Decision and fairness. Everybody does their share.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of the result depends less on the individuals considered
in isolation, than on the collective process as a whole and on what others do. Are a
majority of actors mobilized? Are they in a zero-sum, winner-loser game, or one
where everyone can win? It is thus important to make sure everyone is doing their
part and there are as few free riders as possible. When individuals are equitably
involved in decision, and their opinions taken into account, they are ready to commit
because they have been consulted. As we shall see, the way in which actors are
collectively rewarded, and deviants penalized, plays a decisive role.

What are leaders for? The leader as coach and integrator

Everyone can learn to develop their leadership style through practice, by jettisoning
the posture of injunction or domination. Knowledge of the profession plays its part,
but even more so is the ability to remain open to experience, and draw on the
community's extant knowledge. The supervisor alternately becomes a transmitter, a
coach, a trainer or an advisor, helping colleagues perfect their working processes
and team collaboration, without aiming to be a bossy know-it-all. She helps
employees own their processes, while not hesitating, however, to check, audit, or
certify, and ascertain whether things are running smoothly and with the right level of
competence. The leader also orchestrates, integrates, by fostering cooperation
through the barriers that separate departments and units.

This daily work, on the ground, of encouraging, educating, rewarding or, at times,
sanctioning, may appear less exciting and glorious than being in charge of big
decisions. In fact, most of the organization's processes, whether learning or
adapting, occurs continuously, and step by step. Big decisions are rare, and often
heroic and destabilizing, if this basic work has not been done.