Learning about Leadership

For much of my career, I am fortunate to have been actively involved in leadership, both its development and its application. For the former, I support clinically trained leaders who work in the long-term care context. The close of the program gives me the great satisfaction of hearing these leaders present back the process and outcomes of their action learning projects. “Project” may be a misnomer because these leaders wade into the murky areas of complexity as they work to understand and affect an area of their professional context that is “worthy of their attention.” There is always an interplay between context-specific health indicators (e.g. Instances of Falls, Visits to the Emergency Department, etc.) and such broader collaboration issues as empowering teams and fostering accountability.

People use the word “myth” to describe (and then debunk) ideas that, although persistent, do not hold true. Here are a few of these that repeatedly arise during these leadership programs.

Myth #1 - Leaders know more than other people

In any collaborative environment, there can be a tension between “expertise” and “authority.” There is a certain kind of confidence that allows someone to be comfortable not knowing everything. This allows people to make better use of the expertise around them, which can take the form of empowering those with deeper knowledge to bring that forward in a constructive manner. Leaders who complain about not being given good information should be asking themselves how well they create an environment where information flows freely.

In the long-term care context, Clinical Leaders do not have to become experts in business and finance, or in infection control, or in conflict resolution, or whatever broad issue they have to face. Framing challenges such that everyone shares the context (as much as possible) creates and environment where people are comfortable sharing their expertise in a manner that helps everyone identify, understand and address some of the persistent problems that we face.

So… Leaders are curious and surface the expertise of others so as to have greater input for complex situations.

Myth #2 - Leaders act a certain way

In many instances, people create stylized stereotypes of how leaders behave. This is often furthered by a focus on skill development in “Executive Presence” and “Impressing Groups.” Every leader (everyone?) has to pay attention to how they come across. Credibility (built over time, destroyed over night) plays a strong roll in a leaders effectiveness.

At the same time, we all want a level of authenticity in our leaders. The lines between confident and arrogant, or between smooth and greasy, can get blurry and, once blurred, are tough to redraw. (Recall: destroyed overnight or, more accurately, damaged in one errant interaction and eroded on all subsequent ones.)

A large focus of our leadership development is instilling comfort and confidence in the leadership role that these professionals play. When you are the expert in the matter, your judgement counts. When you are not, you can emphasize whose judgement should count, especially when a decisions brings collective responsibility.

So… Maybe leaders do act in certain ways, but you may have a PERSONAL certain way to carry out your role and influence others to carry out theirs.

Myth #3 - Leaders act

No, this is not a careless typo of Myth #2. Leadership can be falsely portrayed as something that one does to others or for others. Especially in the face of many moving parts (i.e. complexity), a great deal of leadership is exhibiting the discipline to do nothing… yet. Characteristic of the situation is not acting because you have decided to wait, rather than because you can’t figure out what to do (or are scared of getting it wrong).

So… Leaders can operate in a number of different gears: stop or slow existing action, initiate or propel new action and delay action.

Leadership maybe an official role, but it takes place at many levels. Rather than simply having answers, making decisions or playing the part, leadership is something we engage in together. The best leaders know what needs to happen (or not happen) for that engagement to be most impactful.