“The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Can you picture the best leader you’ve ever worked for or witnessed? If your experience is anything like mine, I’m guessing that’s a quick question to answer because I think good leaders are fairly rare. People that can competently manage are more common and it seems, at least in the tech industry, the field in which I’ve always worked, that they are often given leadership positions because they can bridge the divide between technology and vision. Against that field, the folks that can really lead shine like stars in a dark sky.
Years ago I was part of a team putting on an event for which Jeff Raikes was the keynote speaker. At the time, Jeff was a senior VP at Microsoft and he’d later go on to be president of Microsoft and then CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. I was a consultant responsible for the technology of the event so not directly or indirectly part of Jeff’s team but we all worked long hours getting the show polished.
Jeff had come in for a rehearsal late one afternoon and then was back the next morning for another practice. At that second practice, someone handed him his script and it didn’t include the edits from the evening before. Jeff exploded, throwing the script, screaming at the person who handed it to him, and then marching off the stage. As immature as it seemed – this was reportedly par for the course for Microsoft whose top management team was filled with people GREAT at speaking to vision but often tantrum-driven managers.
In contrast to that, I’m thinking of my friend, Dave, as the best leader I’ve ever worked for. I’m going by Brené Brown’s definition of a leader, “anyone who holds him or herself accountable for finding potential in people or processes.” Here are some of the things that made Dave stand out for me:
- He rarely spent any time at his desk. His absences had two benefits. First, they allowed his people to solve their own problems instead of running to him. Those solutions were often better because they were engineered from the inside instead of dictated from the outside.
Secondly, Dave wasn’t in his office because he spent the majority of his time managing up. Instead of waiting for meetings to deliver news about progress, good and bad, he used regular and informal conversations so nothing was surprising to his management. - Dave cared about the growth of his people. So, if someone wanted to try something outside their normal lane, he was all for it. He’d ask how he could help – and not just at the beginning but on an ongoing basis.
- The most remarkable thing about him was that Dave wasn’t scared. When we encountered setbacks or side discoveries, Dave led from a place of courage. One of his favorite books was Rules for Revolutionaries by Guy Kawasaki. Mixing things up to see what boundaries or mindsets could be torn down seemed to be Dave’s favorite role – and he exceled at it.
As a bonus, Dave is funny and has some of the best aphorisms I’ve ever heard. People or solutions who don’t deliver were “all sizzle and no steak.” And when talking about how to find customers is “looking for someone who had pain and the checkbook in the same pocket.” Dysfunctional teams are “goat rodeos.” And I learned from Dave, goat rodeos are a real thing for young kids to practice their rodeo skills before they graduate to horses. He says, “Once you’ve seen one, they are the perfect analogy for a disastrous team or situation. The goats always win. 🙂 “
It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve worked for Dave but I still think of him fondly and often as the example what we can do when we work from courage instead of fear. And maybe that’s the mark of a true leader – they leave a lasting impression!
I was inspired to write this post after a recent encounter with someone who wasn’t demonstrating leadership skills. It pushed me to wonder – was this person doing his best? I’ve written about that on my Heart of the Matter post today: Doing the Best I Can.
(featured photo from Pexels)
Surprised By Joy 