By Ian J. Cook

When will it end? What will happen next? How will we survive?

These are the questions that we hear day-to-day about our current economic slowdown.  These are also the questions that organizational leaders are trying to answer for themselves and for their staff. These unprecedented times are causing fear, concern and confusion in businesses across Canada and many, if not all, of these leaders are struggling with the further challenge of not knowing the answer.

Our model of leadership has been slowly changing from highly directive and hierarchical to more facilitative and team-oriented. This change varies distinctly by business and industry. For organizations to survive and thrive in our volatile world this change needs to be accelerated.

Most of us have had “The elephant in the room” experience. This refers to when a leader is talking to a group. Someone asks a good question. The leader does not know the answer but provides a forceful, complex and authoritative reply. The reply silences the questioner. But everyone in the room knows the leader does not understand what they are talking about. There is big obvious issue (elephant) in the room and no one is talking about it. The staff ignores it for fear of repercussions or upsetting the leader. The leader ignores it for fear of losing their perceived power as the expert and source of all answers.

This is a lose-lose situation. The leader loses their own confidence from knowing they look lost and the staff lose trust and respect in their leader because they are disengaged by the non–answer and shut down of discussion. In difficult times this double negative can have significant impacts on the stress level and performance of leaders and the engagement and productivity of employees. This all leads to poor performance for businesses in a tough economy.

The “Elephant in the room” happens because many leaders are still working from the societal norm of the “Great White Man” or “Hero” theory of leadership. The “Hero” theory of leadership assumes people who hold positions of authority are somehow infallible and have all the answers. They are experts.  As our world has become more complex and volatile this theory of leadership has proven limited. Especially in times of uncertainty, it is impossible for any single individual to be an expert on the range of issues and actions which are impacting organizational fortunes. However, for many people this is how they have behaved to earn their leadership position and, without any alternative leadership tools or strategies, they continue on the same path. Most of us unconsciously continue to do the things that made us successful in the past, even when we recognize the future is different.

The number of recent articles on innovation and the statistics linking success in a downturn to innovation suggest that doing more of the same is not a recipe for success. This relates as much to your leadership and people practices as it does to your products and services. 

Any organization looking to innovate its leadership approach should consciously review their current model of leadership. Do people get promoted to positions of authority for their technical skills or simply because they deliver results? How does staff respond to leaders in your organization — do they take orders and then act or do they question and probe? Do your leaders firefight the problems themselves or can your leaders engage their teams in collaborative problem-solving, generating the goals and recognition that lead to high levels of productivity? We know what we want but have we created the conditions that allow others to perform in this way?

There are two steps you can take straight away to start shifting your leadership approach. The first is to ensure you destroy the “Hero” leadership stereotype and replace it with something distinctive to your organization. The simple statement that leaders do not need to have the answers but need to work with their teams to find the answers can give permission for a whole new level of dialogue. Make it clear that the leader is not the expert but an enabler.

The second step is to introduce some of the core listening and enquiry skills that are related to the practice of coaching. These tools provide leaders with strategies and approaches for taking questions and turning them into dialogue and shared answers. Next time that tough question comes the response is more likely to be a further question or a comment which brings in the skills of the group. Even done at a basic level these skills support leaders to feel confident in their capabilities and show employees that their input counts. Confidence and energy are too big factors in working through turbulent economic times.

These shifts are not easy. They require people to rewrite many of their unconscious identity and communication rules. They take practice and encouragement. However, they are vital if we are to generate the wave of collective problem-solving, organizational and service redesign, and productivity improvement that will carry us through these uncertain times.

Ian J Cook is the director of HR knowledge and research at BC HRMA. Ian is using his global HR consulting experience and business knowledge to grow a function which delivers informative, relevant and timely comment.