Here is a story that depicts the reality in today’s organizations.  It was told by a rather theatrical, but very effective, executive.

A newly appointed general manager began his first meeting with his staff by showing them two large glasses side-by-side on the conference table.  There was a third, smaller object, on the table but it was initially covered by a cloth napkin.  Both glasses were filled to the mid-point with a dark liquid so as to make its position in the glasses visible. He held up the first glass and asked the group, “How would an optimist describe this glass?”

“Half-full,” some of the group responded.

He poured the contents, which turned out to be tea, into a pitcher and held up the second glass. “What would a pessimist say about this one?”  

“Half-empty,” the group said in unison, getting into it.

Again, he poured the tea into the pitcher and, with a flourish, swept the napkin away, revealing a smaller glass filled to the brim.  “What happened to this one,” he asked?  This time the question was rhetorical. “The other glasses were too big. This one has been re-engineered – downsized,” he shouted!  Moving to his three main points he pointed out that the organization had too many employees, too few orders, and too little money.  He then broke out an empty small glass for each staff member and, in an eerie, last supper-like process, poured them each some tea as they proceeded to plan a significant layoff.

In 1997 Mary Lynn Pulley wrote Losing your job – Reclaiming your Soul: Stories of Resilience Renewal, and Hope (Jossey-Bass, 1997).  It was a beautifully written and inspiring book that helped layoff victims re-frame job loss into a wake-up call that could help them rebound into work that was psychologically nutritious and provide deeper personal meaning.  It is as relevant today as it was when she wrote it.

 Mary Lynn passed away in January and her brother Jeff and two friends from The Center for Creative Leadership, Joan Gurvis and Marcia Horowitz are completing her work on an updated and revised second edition.  The second edition will be self-published and will be coming out this spring.  I’ll provide specific information as to how to buy it in a future blog. 

 In the meantime, if you can’t wait, you could buy the first edition and also update the information by purchasing the second edition when it comes out.  It is a very important book and provides reinforcement and specific examples that help give hope and strategies to overcome the toxic effects of organizational codependence that I describe in Healing the Wounds.

What does it take to be an effective leader in today’s world?  It involves something significantly more fundamental than mere technique or skills. In the final analysis, it is much more difficult. What is required is the courage to face our fear, anger, and anxiety, move beyond them, and help make things better. Here are four dimensions of the necessary leadership courage for today’s world:

• The courage to resist cynicism. In our current environment, it is easy to succumb to anger, blaming, and cynicism. Effective leaders are able to face their frustrations and anxieties, still maintain a positive perspective, and work to find answers. The worse leaders are those who allow their cynicism and anger to affect their followers. They not only don’t help make things better, but pass on their own anger and cynicism to those they are attempting to lead. 
• The courage to help others. The old adage is profound and simple: If you feel bad about yourself, find someone who feels worse, help him, you will feel better and he gets helped! In times of stress and confusion, leaders who make a difference have the grit to deal with their own issues, put them aside, and make themselves available to others. A person who is struggling with fear and an uncertain future doesn’t need a leader who is too caught up in her own issues to focus on others’ problems. She needs someone who has had the courage to face her problems and has the focus to be present for others.
• The courage to engage.  One response to the problems we face today is to hunker down in the trenches, avoid risk, and hope things improve. Given the magnitude of the problems going on around us it is easy to understand why many leaders end up just going through the motions, limping through each day, not being of much use to themselves or to those they are attempting to lead.  Courageous leaders get up in the morning and choose to engage. They feel the fear and anxiety and choose to make a difference anyway. They don’t add to the problems. They choose to help solve them.
• The courage to look in the mirror. Courageous leaders are made, not born. They have the ability to learn from their mistakes and from feedback. If they discover themselves becoming cynical, blaming, and withdrawing from optimistic engagement, they have the fortitude to change. Lots of people get feedback, but not everyone has the ability to hear it and the courage to take action. Leaders who make a difference have the ability to look in the mirror and the bravery to do something about what they see.

    There is no magic formula for developing courage. It comes down to a matter of choice. Those who have the courage to help make things better make a conscious decision not let their frustrations and fears disable them. They choose to rebuild, not accept defeat. The bravery of the leaders we desperately need to help us through these uncertain times is not found in flashy speeches, but is discovered in their steady, quiet, and unrelenting efforts to make things better. These are the kind of people we need to rebuild our organizations, our nation, and our world.

Courage is not a trait that is found in most performance appraisal forms or taught in executive development programs.  I’ve found that courage is, however, a key ingredient in what it takes for leaders to make a difference, turn around downsized organizations, and re-recruit layoff survivors.  There seem to be two types of courage that are key,

 The first type of courage is the courage to resist cynicism.  It’s easy to get down and, sometimes fun, to engage in dark humor or slam the organization.  What leaders don’t realize is that no one likes a cynical boss and, although they may laugh at leaders’ cynical jokes and comments, followers don’t respect cynical bosses.

 The second type of courage is the courage to engage.  Again, it is easy to drop out, go through the motions, and not fully engage your human spirit and energy.  The most effective leaders I know have the courage to get up in the morning, realistically assess the challenges in front of them, feel the pain, and move beyond it and try to make a difference.

 In order to heal the wounds of layoffs and revitalize downsized organizations leaders need to find a way to muster up the courage to resist cynicism and truly engage the issues in the workplace.  If they don’t they will just be going through the motions and not be of value to themselves or their organizations.