Does Leadership Always Matter?

Now that we’ve identified a few of the most common misconceptions (or myths) around how leadership impacts EVERY organization and we’ve connected the dots on how productivity and profitability come into play for nonprofits and public sector organizations just as much as they do for those of us over in the greedy, capitalist side of things, let’s get to work on how we can make a positive impact through the way we lead - regardless of what type of organization we’re in. But first, there’s one thing we need to come to terms with!

While productivity and profitability do indeed show up everywhere, there are some stark differences in what it takes to earn high levels of buy-in and engagement depending on the type of group we may be leading. I’ve often heard references to the idea of militaristic leadership, specifically how harsh and forceful it is. Although that’s most certainly not what I’ve experienced after working with a ton of Veterans in various roles, I can at least understand where that myth started; picture the drill instructor in Full Metal Jacket… If anything, the Veterans I’ve worked with were some of the best leaders I’ve ever been around and I learned why when I helped with the Discover Your Team’s Potential collaborative book project several years ago. (I won’t go into that here but I can still hook you up with a signed copy where you can read all about in the very beginning of the book!) If I’m being completely honest, some of the demanding managers who displayed the poorest leadership I’ve ever seen were the ones who grew up through the ranks in their respective companies and expected anyone unfortunate enough to be reporting to them to heed their every beck and call. That approach did yield results, just not always positive ones in terms of peak productivity or profitability - and that’s one of the reasons we created our Emerging Leader Development and Recruitment, Retention, & Culture courses!

My experience with nonprofit organizations and many public service roles, like law enforcement or fire and rescue, has been that the employees in the majority of these organizations are there due to a passion for the difference they can make for the communities they serve - in spite of the often low wages that come with their roles. If the person they’re reporting to insists on cracking the proverbial whip rather than earning the influence necessary to truly lead, I have to think most will find another place they can make a difference sooner than later. That idea is only amplified when there’s no pay tied to the role at all. We’ve all heard tons of stories of folks changing churches or leaving civic organizations because of disagreements with someone in charge - and I get it…

Influence > Position or Title!

As we started down this path, I shared a piece of John Maxwell’s story about how he learned that influence was far more important than a title or position when it came to getting anyone to follow you. And let’s be honest: if no one is following, we ain’t leading!

To provide a personal response to Does Leadership Always Matter?, I’ll share a piece of my own “Claude” experience… 

I was just shy of 25 years old when I accepted the “facilitator” role where I would be responsible for seeing that our relatively new behavior-based safety process achieved results. My age wasn’t a big deal, I’ve known plenty of people who have done well in supervisory and management roles in their mid 20s. One thing that made this a bit more complicated was that the majority of the site’s executive team were vocal in their opposition to the process ever being implemented, as it was one of those initiatives forced down from corporate, let alone continuing indefinitely and coming out of the local budget. Another issue that made this even more difficult was that I would be the third person to fill a still relatively new role in less than three years. None of these were insurmountable, but each certainly added a level of complexity to achieving the expected results. The final piece, though, could have been the straw that broke this camel’s back…

Each of the guys who preceded me in the role took lateral moves into the position. The first had been a business unit manager (one of three in the facility) who reported directly to the plant manager. The second had been a department supervisor with responsibility for one of the most critical production areas on site. My move was lateral too, but I had been a set-up operator with no positional authority whatsoever and I was at the third lowest hourly pay grade in the building. It didn’t take long for me to realize that any results I would be able to achieve in that role would not come through the “because I said so” approach!

I’ll spare you all the details of the bumps and bruises I encountered along the way. I will say that I’m forever grateful to three specific managers who mentored and supported me through the first year or two where I could have easily been tossed out on my tail. The big lesson I got from all that was that even in a business when folks were paid a solid wage, getting support and involvement for something that fell outside of any written job descriptions was all about earning influence and had very little to do with my job title and absolutely nothing to do with the authority that came with it - because there was none!

Here’s the thing: the type of organization or the work being done is never the most significant factor in whether or not the people who are involved buy into the cause and engage at a level that achieves results. One of the most valuable lessons I learned in all those years I was responsible for that behavior-based safety process was that purpose has far more to do with engagement than the level of difficulty or the amount of compensation. And that purpose, regardless of the type of organization, needs to be communicated by the folks who have accepted responsibility for leading! Whether we’re talking about the private sector and chasing peak profitability, the public sector where a segment of the population is depending on the service we provide (I’m not referring the veterinarian kind this time!), in a nonprofit or civic organization where our clients may not get the attention we need without our help, these really are just different verses of the same song! How we choose to lead will make a critical difference, and I can’t think of a reason we’d ever expect to get best-in-class results any other way so let’s wrap this up by looking at that!

Should the Type of Organization Determine How We Lead?                                           

If we think back to how we started this look at Leadership Misunderstood, the biggest myths we’ve taken aim at here were few but extremely common:

• People automatically follow a business owner, executive, manager (or whatever other title you want to insert here) because their paycheck depends on it;
• The organization is different because the people involved aren’t highly paid (or paid at all in some cases) so leadership doesn’t really apply;
• Because it’s in the public sector or nonprofit space, profitability and productivity aren’t things that come into play…

After working through each of these, despite how crazy they may seem to us now, we can’t lose sight of how often they all impact how the responsible parties choose to lead - or in many cases, choose NOT to lead… The biggest driver for me suggesting that all of the different types of organizations I’ve referenced through this process are so much like different verses in the same song is that they all have a common thread! Every single one, regardless of scope or purpose, deals with people in some way or another! And when people are involved, the results will be better with great leadership!

Sure, a whole bunch of screaming, yelling, and threatening someone’s livelihood can get results - at least until we’re no long watching their every move - but I’ve never seen it yield that increased discretionary effort (as much as 57% if you believe the Harvard Business Review stat I’ve referenced a number of times) that comes when team members genuinely buy into what they’re doing. And that ain’t gonna happen without effective leadership, I don’t care how amazing the compensation package is!

When we consider the military and most public safety roles, it’s easy to think the chain of command eliminates all the possible problems we would face in a private organization - and we’d be dead wrong! While that structure serves a purpose, failure to lead well will inevitably create a revolving door that looks a lot like one of those merry-go-rounds that were in many parks when I was a kid. You know, the ones you’d spin as fast as you could to see who would fall off or throw up… Although there will always be some turnover in every type of organization, I haven’t seen a single example of where the best people stick around indefinitely without having good leaders in place.

And in my opinion, the biggest misconception I’ve heard is that leadership really doesn’t tie in when there’s no direct reporting or authority, like in a civic group or a church where everyone is there on a voluntary basis. Quite honestly, I’m convinced that’s where leadership matters the most!

The terms we focus on may not always be productivity and profitability but you can bet that we still need to achieve some sort of goal. And unless that goal is insignificant, we’re going to need others involved in helping us get there. So should the type of organization determine how we lead? I certainly don’t think so. As Cindy and I have heard Mark Cole say so many times, “Everyone deserves to be led well!” Regardless of where we’re at or what we’re measuring, we can take responsibility for doing just that!