The status seeker leader

Continuing a series of posts on leaders who make sense - or in this case, don't!

Leadership is about elevation, lifting others up, not putting them down. Even if a tough topic needs talking about, a leader who makes sense makes the environment feel safe anyway.

Many leaders play status games and are unaware they do it. They try to make themselves feel better by being right, better, showing they know it all.

Compliments get turned into criticisms, praise isn’t passed on, and success gets stashed not shared.

Status seekers feel like shite and they share that shite around. (And yes, this character I've sketched looks like a poop-emoji. Unintentional originally, but oh-so suitable once I noticed it.)

Making others feel shitty is a dirty tactic; it’s hurtful and unnecessary. These leaders don’t make sense! What they say can be in contrast to how things really are. We know politicians like this when they're said to be 'removed', 'tone deaf' and ’not living in the real world’.

Leaders in chaos create more chaos

Beware the 'chaos conveyer' leader. "They’re all over the place," was a description I heard from a team recently. Whether they’re hyped up on too much coffee (or energy drinks), lacking sleep or overwhelmed with too much of everything, the chaotic leader rarely makes sense.

They're described as ‘intense’; they interrupt, are impatient, shut things down and can have a distorted view of time, deadlines and scope. Then.... zzzzing! They're out of one meeting and dashing to the next, out of control.

The danger is, their chaos creates more chaos.

Their mood, energy and character creates uncertainty and chaos. No wonder people disappear and disengage; it’s all too much!

It doesn't make sense because they don't:

🙀think

🙀prepare or

🙀manage their state ... before lurching into a leadership situation.

They're often 'winging it', and not in a good, creative way.

Volatile times require leaders who can bring sense to situations, no matter what’s going on.

The GRRRRRRR of the 'Me Monster'

In these crazy turbulent times, it’s not easy to communicate information to others.

We can be dealing with complex information ourselves, struggling with new systems or concepts, learning new things. And the people we need to reach with our communication can seem disconnected, disengaged, distracted (and potentially displeased with what’s going on in their world of change and turbulence). Not the most receptive audience!

Comedians know about the challenges of an audience who seems ’tough’. Comedian Brian Regan suggests we avoid being a ‘Me Monster’; you know, making it all about yourself. Check how often you say 'I, me, my, mine, I, me me me me me me me-aarrrrrgghhhhh' - that’s the Me Monster.

Not good: too much about you, needs to be more about them.

So it goes that leaders who are able to 'make sense’ in these tricky times make the information about others, not themselves.

That's leadership right there. 

A day off. For a football game

In my home town Melbourne, Australia there’s a public holiday celebrating the Australian Football League grand final.

At the event’s pre game entertainment, musician and songwriter Mike Brady will sing a football related song. It’s called ‘Up there Cazaly’ and this year it’s the 40th anniversary of the song.

It’s about a talented football player of the 20th Century, Roy Cazaly.

‘Up there’ was a nick name for the impressive one handed marks he would take, leaping high into the air. Roy Cazaly played and coached in several teams.

He’s a football hall of famer and was known for using some ‘ahead of his time’ training techniques.

Roy Cazaly - yes, we share the same surname, Cazaly. Roy is my great great uncle; my great grandfather’s brother.

While I never got to meet Roy I’ve heard many stories about him.

Author and researcher Robert Allen released a whole book about Roy uncovering so much more of his history. Do I singalong when ‘Up there Cazaly’ plays on my shuffled music playlist. Sure!

It’s a rousing and motivating tune! Can’t wait to hear Mike Brady play it again and join with everyone else who sings along to such a sporting anthem.

Up there Cazaly!

The 3 things we miss out on when we don't 'make sense'

I’ve been writing about the power of sensemaking; the Institute for the Future identified it as a top skill for these times.

Information overload, busy schedules, more meetings than we’d like - and we get swamped with information we need to make sense of.

Sometimes this is information outside of our domain of expertise so there's learning we need to do too ... as well as the sensemaking.

Individually we read things, listen and make sense, alone.

But there’s also the practice of being able to make sense of information together, as a team or group; this is collective sensemaking.

Unfortunately we tend to default to dated ways of working. You know, meetings that follow old style formats of 18th Century Parliamentary procedures with agendas, minutes, attendance, apologies, general business, meeting closed, next meeting ... blah blah yawn!

The problem with this linear, archaic way of working is that

1️⃣ Ideas get overlooked

2️⃣ Decisions don't get made

3️⃣ Problems remain unsolved.

A status quo remains. Then we try again at the next meeting.

*groan

You CAN make a cultural shift using Collective Sensemaking.