There is certainly lots of evidence to suggest that we are attracted to the ‘celebrity’ CEO’s – the commanding, visionary person who takes charge in a time of crisis or transition and leads his or her company to another level of performance. Thank Lee Iacocca for that notion from the initial bail out of Chrysler in the 80’s. Perhaps they possess some ‘larger than life’ qualities that we wish we possessed. I’m not certain, but I do know that they aren’t necessarily more successful.
In fact, author Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, first documented that transforming a mediocre company into a stellar performer seemed to require a leader who was the polar opposite of the ‘celebrity’ CEO. The successful leader Collins’ describes combines tremendous personal determination to do what it takes to achieve success for the organization with a willingness to accept responsibility for failure and to pass along the credit for success to his or her team. This ‘Fifth Level’ leader has a quiet determination and confidence along with an ability to ‘respond’ rather than ‘react’ that attracts and motivates.
For several years, a growing body of knowledge and experience has begun to suggest that another approach—under the heading “quiet leadership”—may be ultimately more effective at achieving sustained high performance across many types of organizations.
While this may be good news for those of us who are not natural ‘rock stars’ of leadership, don’t be fooled: Quiet leadership is a challenging management approach that requires a keen understanding of your business and the people in it to achieve its promise.
Part of this seems to be rooted in the desire to collaborate and to draw answers from those that work with them. They lead by example, eliciting the behavior they want by demonstrating it, rather than telling others what or how to do it. And quiet leadership isn’t just for the person at the top, but applies across the spectrum of leaders – from the top leader to all levels of middle-management, from solo entrepreneurs and their team of subcontractors, to small business owners with a small staff.
Of those that I have coached, and those that I have observed, quiet leaders seem to have a natural curiosity about people and situations. This leads them to ask more questions. These questions help them to formulate their own conclusions. The act of asking questions is more affirming and shows an interest and respect that draws the best out of the person(s) around them. It establishes greater trust and people tend to feel more valued and supported in that environment. These individuals tend to give more of their ‘discretionary’ energy and are more engaged. The by-product of this engagement is greater productivity. When organizations have sufficient numbers of these ‘engaged’ people (at least 60%) these companies can be as much as 28% more profitable.
Daniel Goleman’s book, Primal Leadership, suggests that a coaching style of leadership may best describe the rarest—and most essential—qualities of the quiet leader. “The coaching style is the least-used tool in the leader’s toolkit,” says Goleman, “probably because it doesn’t look like leadership.”
Like a coach, a quiet leader can achieve breakthroughs by asking guided questions rather than giving orders or advice, and by getting to know each member of a team well enough to be able to craft work assignments to best suit where they are and where they’re going.
Perhaps another key to a more quiet style is that it is less a style than it is about work and people. “I want to help you get what you want.” These leaders are not about their ego, they are interested in success and performance. They understand that this happens when those on the team have a chance to work in an environment that is energizing and gives them a chance to engage in meaningful work, make contributions and attain their personal goals as well as the goals of their work group/organization.
Lest you should think that I am criticizing other ‘styles,’ I am not. You can be a successful leader from a number of behavior styles. I know, I was a ‘louder’ leader for much of my career, with a high degree of success. I am saying that there are key aspects/traits with quiet leaders that lend them to be very successful across a broad spectrum of situations and people. Their style particularly works well with millennials. We can all learn from these traits as the nature of work and how work gets done continues to change.
Sorry, Donald Trump, you might have entertainment value in the presidential race, but real leadership that affirms and is sustaining is actually quite boring to watch.