Step Two: Encourage Breakthrough Leadership Practices

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come,
and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem,
he consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop
the water from the springs which were outside the city;
and they helped him. Thus many people gathered
together who stopped all the springs and the brook that
ran through the land, saying, “Why should the kings of
Assyria come and find much water?”
— 2 Chronicles 32:2-4 (NKJV)

The organizational leader will probably do some significant
soulsearching after the group meeting just described, be
concerned about how to deal with the many new issues
that have been raised, and feel inadequate to improve as
a leader in all the needed ways. It is rare that an
organizational leader doesn’t feel taken down a peg or two
in this process, and confidence can be shaken. Here is
where the interviewers can be helpful mentors and
encouragers of the organizational leader.

The next step should begin about a week after the
group meeting when the interviewers sit down with the
organizational leader to discuss ways to accomplish what
needs to be done. Ideally, the interviewers have studied
in detail what occurred during the group meeting and
found what appear to be the simplest ways that the
organizational leader can accomplish her or his tasks and
for the leadership team to help the organization to make
a breakthrough.

Occasionally such mentoring and encouragement
opportunities begin to occur during the interviews. Here’s
an example of what can happen: A person being
interviewed expressed frustration with the organizational
leader for not taking action to sell the interviewee’s
business, one that the interviewee had founded and sold
to the company many years earlier. The interviewer knew
that the organizational leader wanted to sell the business
but believed that the interviewee was inalterably opposed.
The interviewer asked the interviewee if he had ever
shared this view about selling the business with the
organizational leader. The interviewee indicated that he
had frequently done so.

Alerted that there might be a serious miscommunication
between the organizational leader and the interviewee,
the interviewer asked the interviewee if he would be
willing to speak to the organizational leader right then to
share that view as a way of helping the interviewer to
understand how communications occur in the company.
The interviewee agreed, and the two strolled down to
the organizational leader’s office where the interviewee
shared the information. The organizational leader
handled it all well, gratefully thanked the interviewee
for his views, and promised to make a prompt decision.
Within a month, the organization announced that it
would be selling that business, even before the group
meeting occurred.

Both men were delighted with what occurred, and both
were quite surprised that the unresolved issue was
handled so easily and painlessly. From this experience,
the organizational leader learned to check more often
and in more candid ways on the views of his leadership
team in one-on-one meetings. It turned out that
everyone in the leadership team had been so polite in
expressing views during prior group meetings that
important messages had been lost.

In most cases, the organizational leader learns that her
or his leadership style needs changing. Let’s consider
communications. The organizational team is not made up
of mind readers, and they often mistake what the
organizational leader’s intentions are. For instance, a
casual question from the organizational leader may be
interpreted as a desire to reverse a long-standing policy.
Much as Jesus had to explain his parables in private to
the disciples before He was understood, the
organizational team members need to be encouraged to
ask for clarification when they are confused about what
the organizational leader intends or sense a lack of
consistency.

Another common problem is involving too many people
in too formal a way. Many people in the leadership team
aspire to become the organization’s overall leader. If the
organizational leader involves all of the members of the
leadership team when they don’t need to be, competing
career interests will lead to some seeking personal
aggrandizement rather than getting the task done. If,
instead, people know that they are being asked to work
on something because their help is essential to success,
they usually relax and focus on the task.

While it’s good to develop members of the leadership
team to prepare them to become organizational leaders,
a better way to do so is to encourage them to instead
play advisory roles for organizational subunits that aren’t
part of the organizational leader’s authority or for
volunteer organizations. Jesus accomplished a similar
result in developing his leadership team by sending out
the disciples two-by-two to witness in different towns.

The mentoring will probably require continuing contact
between the interviewers and the organizational leader.
Ideally, these conversations will occur before an issue
arises rather than focus on trying to fix mistakes that
have been heedlessly made. Brief telephone chats are
often enough to help the organizational leader become
more effective, but some face-to-face discussions will
also be necessary.

The confidential one-on-one interview process will need
to be repeated from time to time with the leadership
team. Generally, it shouldn’t be needed again for at least
another six months. Normally, the interviews and group
meeting will need to be repeated at least once a year so
that the leadership team perceives that the
organizational leader is serious about creating more
breakthroughs and improving leadership effectiveness.
At some point, it will be helpful for this feedback process
to be internalized (typically through the human
resources staff) so that the external interviewers no
longer need to be involved. Whenever the organizational
leader finds a mentor or consultant who can be more
helpful than the interviewers, the organizational leader
should shift to working with that person.

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.