Leadership in Turbulent Times
In the natural course of my work, I spend a lot of time traveling between meetings with my Vistage members and other client work. One of the main ways I try to “redeem” so much windshield time is listening to books, podcasts, and the like as my own way of personal sharpening. One of the best books I “read” back in 2019 was Leadership in Turbulent Times by Pulitzer Prize winner, Doris Kearns Goodwin. I was thrilled when I was able to hear her speak at our annual Vistage Chair event in January 2020 (with the bonus that she agreed to a selfie with me). She was spectacular!
Few, if any of us, were thinking about the turbulence headed our way that morning but her remarks of the four U.S. Presidents she’s researched most: Lincoln, TR, FDR, and Johnson were a foreshadow of a blueprint that leaders could and should be applying some weeks later.
In her commentary and storytelling, she gave us eight key factors common to the four leaders. I won’t steal all her thunder here but here is a sampling from my notes that would seem especially relevant for us:
1. Self-confidence to surround themselves with greatness. Each selected highly competent, strong-willed people to help them lead. They weren’t threatened by someone else’s abilities. This has been a personal favorite for me as a fundamental part of my own personal leadership philosophy and has paid off time and time again throughout my career from junior leadership roles to CEO to Vistage Chair and Executive Coach.
2. Make decisions and take full responsibility. Early in the pandemic, much was written about being a “wartime” CEO and rightly so. It’s this second part on taking responsibility that becomes important for credibility as a leader. We have to be able to own the outcome, even if it falls short of our target. (And remember, be humble, deferring credit, if your decisions work!)
3. Understanding that changing times require changing course. The very first webinar I attended in March 2020 was on the virus itself from the Director of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University. Its title: A Moving Target. While we know more about the disciplines needed to keep ourselves and our neighbor safe with the hope of a vaccine coming in some measure in 2021, the target hasn’t stopped moving yet and doesn’t look to anytime soon. Said differently, expect more turbulence in 2021! Turbulence by its very nature brings movement. We better be paying attention, anticipating, and leading agile organizations.
History does repeat itself – and while the specific form of turbulence may be “unprecedented” my prayer and challenge for all of us in leadership roles is that we would find ways to repeat effective leadership models from our past.