I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership recently.
When there is an on-going crisis, one that changes the way we live and work, what kind of leader do we need? We may turn to someone who is confident and decisive. We may put our trust in someone who coordinates a team to get things done.
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you,” wrote Max De Pree, CEO of Herman Miller Inc, is his contemplative book, “Leadership is an Art” (1989). “In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.”
In his contemplative book, “Leadership is an Art” (1989), De Pree uses compact, precise language to define leadership as “liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible.”
De Pree is a proponent of servant leadership, in which “the signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers.” He believes that participative management begins with a belief in people.
During a crisis, it’s easy to think that without good leadership, people will make poor decisions. It can be much harder to believe that people will make good choices on their own.
Do we need leaders who enforce regulations? Or do we need leaders who trust us to follow safety guidelines and help us do what we need to do to be healthy – including having access to food, shelter, and healthcare?
Servant leaders understand how to build healthy relationships, according to De Pree. It begins with five intentions:
1) Respecting people and the diversity of their gifts, so that everyone can contribute in some way;
2) Understanding that values are more important than policy and practice;
3) Agreeing on the rights of work, such as the right to be needed and the right to be involved;
4) Understanding that the best people need covenants, not contracts, based on shared commitment;
5) Understanding that people build trust, not structures.
De Pree spends considerable time talking about the essential rights of work, which is particularly complex during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this crisis, many of us believe in two conflicting viewpoints: that it’s not safe to work with people and that the ability to work is a duty for (“essential workers”), not a right.
When I first read “Leadership is an Art,” the most relevant idea was the diversity of people’s talents and skills within an organization. When I consider the book today, it’s about having a shared commitment to a healthy community.
Who do you turn to in a crisis? What kind of leader are you – within your family, at your workplace, in your community?
