Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix

Several years ago, a small book entitled The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard hit the bestseller list and remained there for a couple of years. Its popularity in the business community was contagious. In every corporation I visited, I noticed people in leadership, management and supervisory roles carrying this small book as if it was their business Bible. In spite of the many positive and practical tips in the book, I am convinced that its popularity resulted from a daily quandary that besets most managers.

Leaders and managers are so by overwhelmed by employee issues and concerns that they welcomed anything that offered to lessen the amount of time they had to spend on those responsibilities. Instead of involving themselves in time-consuming employee interactions, managers could exercise the “one-minute managerial techniques” that would free them up to attend to other pressing duties, like closing a sale, addressing a customer complaint, or preparing next year’s budget.

While the “one-minute” theory sounded good, its practice left a bit to be desired. Imagine browsing through your favorite local bookstore and noticing new books, such as The One-Minute Marriage and The One-Minute Parent. How would your react to that? Most of us would laugh derisively, because we realize that any healthy relationship requires a greater investment of oneself.

The quality of time you spend communicating with your spouse or child determines the strength of the relationship. The same holds true for relationships between managers and employees. The one thing followers desire from their leaders is the one thing leaders feel they have so little of – time.

Clicking the mouse on our computers connects us immediately to the world, yet to connect meaningfully to another human being takes time and special attention.

Leadership Of Self

While quick fixes have had their minutes of fame, successful managers in the 21st Century must be prepared to spend time on themselves, as well as on others, to forge strong relationships. In all the research I have done on the subject of leadership over the years, the factor that gets the least amount of attention is the one I consider to be most important – the leader’s relationship to self. Leaders must manage themselves first if an organization is to function well. Once leaders and managers get themselves “together,” they can build successful relationships within the team, the business, or the family.

The whole world was witness to an outstanding example of self-control on April 13,1970. The Apollo 13 crew was on their way to the moon in a command module when those listening to the broadcast suddenly heard a loud noise, followed by a calm declaration by captain Jim Lovell, "Houston, I think we have a problem."

Lovell maintained a "non-anxious presence" throughout the crisis. The medical team in Houston who were monitoring his vital signs were amazed that his heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate did not change throughout the crisis.

Near the end of his life, Frank Lloyd Wright spoke to young architects who constantly worried about whether to go with the latest, popular styles or to risk being more imaginative. Wright encouraged them to become architects of their own destinies. “Consider,” he said, “that you…are the pattern givers of civilization. As no steam can rise higher than its source, so you can rise no more or better to architecture than you are. So, why not go to work on yourselves, to make your selves in quality what you would have your buildings to be.”

Has Anyone Seen My Leader?

A generation ago, an employee searching for his leader would likely locate him on the Country Club golf course. Top leaders often played while those in the trenches did the work. This scenario rarely happens these days because the trend of downsizing and reorganizing has flattened the organization to the point everyone is pressed to do more – better, faster, with fewer resources. This includes leaders and managers. In addition to their own daily tasks, today’s managers and supervisors have the responsibility of successfully flying the organizational airplane into the future. Everyone is busy.

The likelihood that this trend will suddenly change is slim. In a recent Fortune magazine article, corporate leaders were questioned about the future of their businesses. Seventy seven percent agreed that they would “have to push their managers even harder to be competitive in the 21st century.”

Herein lies a potential problem. When leaders become overly preoccupied with their own tasks, they risk losing touch with their employees. The consequences of an absent leader are the same as that of an absent parent; the anxiety becomes greater at the breakfast table or the boardroom when leaders lose touch.

The Power Of Presence

Can you imagine the coach of a professional sport saying to his or her team during the heart of the season, “I am going to be busy this next month with some other important external issues, so I will miss several of your practices and some of your easier games. But I will be at all the major games and will deliver a motivational pep talk. Meanwhile, I expect you to work as hard as you can and win the championship.” The morale and teamwork would be destroyed by the coach’s absences and apparent low regard for the team.

As a case in point, I was on a flight from Atlanta to London. After takeoff, the pilot’s voice came over the intercom informing passengers and crew to keep their seatbelts fastened and to expect some major turbulence that would last until we reached our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet. From that point until the end of the bumpy ride, the tension in the cabin was palpable.

Once our flight smoothed out, the captain turned over the flight to his well-trained co- pilots and entered the cabin. He spent the next 40 minutes casually walking up and down the aisles, engaging in conversation with adults and children alike. He laughed and listened to and answered questions from passengers. It was obvious how a relaxed state of calmness had replaced the previous anxiety in the cabin.

The presence of a “non-anxious” leader is the secret to getting followers to focus.

When Slow Becomes Beautiful

Modern business leaders have learned that you can’t be competitive in the 21st century by living in the past. They know that they must focus on “creating their future” though innovation, strategic planning, and total quality management.

However, while this forward-looking, aggressive approach has helped solve some problems, it has created another – the challenge of “Living in the Moment.” The Buddhists calls it “nowness.”  If we are going to transform our lives and our businesses, we must learn to slow down enough to see what is going on now. My father used to say, “Son, speed has value only if you are going in the right direction.”

During a lunch break at a recent seminar for the management team of a large hotel property, a supervisor approached me, obviously frustrated. “ I can never get my manager’s attention,” she said. “When I try to communicate with him, I always feel like I am wasting his time. At times I even feel guilty. I sense that he wants me to speed up my conversation, like fast forward to the bottom line, so he can fix my problem and run off to something more important.

“Sometimes I don’t have a problem. All I want is for him to listen. I know he has a stressful job, but so do I, and it becomes more stressful when I don’t have the information I need,” she said.

“Well how do you handle this situation when it occurs?” I asked.

“I have learned to keep my questions, ideas, and stories to myself. I spend a lot of time guessing,” she replied.

For meaningful communication to occur in the often chaotic work place, leaders and managers must learn the art of mentally shifting gears from issues in the past and the future so they can be fully in the moment, listening with their whole being.

I ran across this quotation from American humorist Joan Rivers that summarizes this point wonderfully: “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift – that is why it is called The Present.”