Every year, authors come up with “new” leadership books.  Despite all of these resources, we continue to see leadership challenges and failures on the news, in our workspaces, and our communities.

Senior leadership firings, bankruptcies, privacy breaches, harassment suits, scandals - the list goes on.  A recent poll found that 86% of Americans are “largely disappointed” by leaders in society.  Of that share, 47% are strongly disappointed .  These numbers demonstrate a failure in leadership, on par with John 'Bluto' Blutarsky’s failing grades in Animal House.

The meat and potatoes of the above listed are not about politics or Animal House, yet they each demonstrate an absence of leaders showing up, asking the right questions and making principled decisions. We’ve seen an increase in passive leadership and abdication of responsibility that has left organizations craving an active leader step in and take the helm.

What does an active leader look like?  History is replete with examples, but Shakespeare captures this type of leader’s unique qualities. In his play, Henry V, Shakespeare describes how French troops greatly outnumbered English Soldiers in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.  Victory for the English drew similarities to David, from the famous Hebrew scripture story of David and Goliath.  The night before the battle, the King wandered around the English camp in disguise to understand his troops’ demeanor, hopes, fears, and general mood.  The next morning, Henry led his troops into battle and ultimate victory. He demonstrated leadership at the front of his troops’ formation, not in the back or middle. Based on his time with his troops in their environment, understanding their situation, the King recognized that his presence out front would motivate his troops to fight with valor, distinction, tenacity, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

Unfortunately, many leaders today are “leading” remotely or via email or by video teleconference.

The best leaders are willing to get their hands dirty in order to understand what it is like to be on the front line serving customers or working on the shop floor.  What’s that?  You say you’ve been in the “trenches” before?  How long ago?  Reflect on how long it has been and admit, even if it is just to yourself, that you may have lost touch with your workforce. Look for new ways to connect with your team and lead from the front, even if it makes you uncomfortable.
Leading from the front involves:

• Actively leading the change you seek to make by acting as a first adopter and immersing yourself in the new ways of working.

• Maintaining the same set of rules, ethics, code of conduct, and manner of operation across the entire team, including its leaders.

• Do not ask team members to execute tasks you would not want to do.

• An atmosphere, where your team views you as approachable, where you listen and remain open to new ideas with the potential for implementation. 

Let’s be honest - leading from the front requires a level of competence, and a heaping helping of humility, courage, and vulnerability.  It can feel much safer and less risky to stay cocooned away from the action.

So, are you leading from the front? 

What’s the so what for this last line? Should the reader think that he/she should go back to the trenches to lead effectively or should not because he/she paid their dues? Might tease this one out a bit. Obviously, leading from the front requires plenty of personal interaction, but the teammates in the “trenches” also don’t expect their leaders to be stamping out parts, assembling a vehicle, or sweeping floors. Doing it occasionally worked well for me as an organizational leader, but I had other responsibilities that were way more important than performing the tactical tasks I once did, not that I didn’t like the tactical tasks.

Authored By: Brian Wells, Managing Director

Sources:

[1] US News and World Reports Poll: Americans Are Down on Society’s Leaders,  Author - Elliott Davis Jr., 2023

iiUniversal Pictures ; produced by Ivan Reitman & Matty Simmons ; written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney & Chris Miller ; directed by John Landis. National Lampoon's Animal House. Universal City, CA :Universal, 2003.