I recently broke bread with my friend Steve Boehlke. Steve has over twenty years’ experience consulting for and coaching science and technology leaders from across the globe. His recently published book, 50 Lessons on Leading For Those With Little Time For Reading hit Amazon’s bookshelf this spring.
He engaged in an email interview this week. Here’s what he had to say about his ideas on leadership and his new work in Africa.
Politics of Creativity – Breaking the Rules with Integrity
In a recent talk you describe integrity as having three components: a moving target, ten eyes and one heart. You proclaim that leadership is more about who you are than what you do. In an environment that values results, how do you advise leaders in maintaining a balance between this view and outcome-based leadership?
In business in particular near-term profitable outcomes are relentlessly in scope. In the larger context of creating new value or accomplishing an enduring mission, the consequences of one’s choices may not be readily apparent or even known. Sometimes a leader needs to take a stand based on principle(s). When Nelson Mandela was sent off to Robben Island where he spent the better part of 27 years in prison, I doubt he was thinking “outcome-based leadership”. Too many leaders today are driven by near-term stakeholder interests rather than deeper, more enduring values. Be clear about your identity – who you are – whether individual or collective (corporate). The value will follow. There are many examples I could cite.
Connections, Relationships & Collaboration
In your work, you differentiate between connections and relationships and make some distinctions as they relate to collaboration. How do we make choices about making connections and allocating energy toward cultivating relationships that will move our work forward? What actions deepen relationships that facilitate collaboration?
Many people are over-connected and under-related these days. A re-framing of the collaboration discussion from quantitative terms (how many connections do I have?) to qualitative terms (how vital are my relationships?) is urgently needed. To shift a connection to more of a relationship, I advise leaders, for example, to share discretionary information that invites a non-routine personal response, e.g. “Would you read the draft of this speech I need to give tomorrow? I’d appreciate your feedback.” Or be present and listen when not required (or not leading the meeting). Practice skillful inquiry. That is one of the most powerful ways to build relationships. Powerful questions bond more than answers. I trust someone who asks good questions much more than someone who has all the answers.
Relationships alone do not, however, make for good collaboration. Most everyone has experienced feel-good relationships, at work or otherwise, which lead nowhere when it comes to accomplishing a shared goal or vision.
Collaboration has an explicit desired outcome and a defined end. Relationships can be perpetual and self-renewing.
What is moral imagination?
In today’s global environment we must be open to alternative points of view and experiences which are essentially and substantially different than our own. That sometimes requires active imagination for starters. We all have our blind spots, whether we acknowledge it or not. No one has had more influence on my thinking about this than Mary Catherine Bateson, the anthropologist and author.
Furthermore, working extensively with research scientists and engineers, I am acutely aware of how they create tomorrow’s world today, including dilemmas we simply have not adequately considered. Some moral imagination is required by each of us as we continue to weigh how best to respond to the Gulf Oil spill – something seemingly few, if any, have previously imagined.
Work in Africa
You are doing some consulting with the African Leadership Academy, an educational institution in Johannesburg, South Africa, dedicated to developing the next generation of African leadership with students from across the continent. How is this work informing your view of leadership?
Leadership is not a function of age nor position, though respect for the wisdom of elders is at risk of becoming a cultural artifact. The influence of richly diverse tribal cultures and distinctive community norms needs to be acknowledged, even if not honored. This is true not just on the African continent but throughout the world.
The social entrepreneurial spirit of the students is exemplary and inspiring. Grow Green Itsueng is but one of many student-led community projects. I accompanied one project team to this poor rural “suburb” of Johannesburg where they are planning and planting community gardens which promise a more sustainable food supply.
Western white male leadership has its distinctive biases and filters; failure to acknowledge that limits our capacity to learn and grow as global leaders.
Leadership can indeed be learned but teaching it is tricky. We can facilitate learning but be cautious about telling someone what he or she must do to lead.
