[2021-06-10] Leaders and followers
In his article When I Follow A Leader: Moments that Won Me Over, Bill McDermott, President and CEO of ServiceNow, recounts several examples from early in his career where leaders gained his loyalty—not through grand gestures but in small unorchestrated moments.
For example, when he was a salesman for Xerox, he called CEO David Kearns to confess that he had just insulted one of the company's clients, a particularly difficult client. McDermott, who had never spoken to Kearns before that day, said: "Mr. Kearns, I apologize if I’ve offended the Xerox Corporation. If I messed up, I accept the consequences completely."
Kearns replied: "I want you to know that if that jackass calls me, I’ll let him know you’re my best guy out there. Keep doing what you’re doing, kid."
McDermott writes that in that brief moment, his level of devotion, enthusiasm and loyalty doubled, not only to the CEO but to the company as well.
Kearns argues that in a digital world, when leaders can share their message with millions at a time, "rarely does a well-planned tweet, post, or TV appearance replicate the emotional wave that washes over us when we’re addressed as individuals in unscripted conversation, and we experience forgiveness, empathy, interest, and caring firsthand."
I had a similar experience years ago. I was meeting with a colleague who asked how I was doing. I divulged that I was feeling a bit dejected because of something our boss had said to me. As soon as our conversation was over—I would later learn—my colleague marched into our boss's office to let him know that he needed to apologize to me. Within minutes of returning to my office, my boss walked in, closed the door behind him, sat down across from me and asked—with absolute empathy and humility—what was up. It was obvious that the last thing he had wanted to do was offend me, and he felt terrible that I was upset. I had never had a boss come to me to make amends. It would have been so easy for him to have concluded that it was up to me to approach him. But he was proactive, and that act communicated volumes about his character. It showed humility, caring and a willingness to admit fault. And it engendered absolute loyalty on my part. I remained in that organization until my boss retired.
Coincidentally, this same boss would tell me on another occasion that I had had an enormous influence on one of the employees in our organization. I worked closely with this employee even though he wasn't a direct report. I respected him, and we worked effectively as a team. My boss said, "I don't know what you're doing, but he's had his best year ever."
All three stories illustrate something I believe wholeheartedly: the way we treat others has a direct bearing on their performance.
Poet and philosopher John O'Donohue, whom I've mentioned before, said it well: "I've always thought that the way you address someone and the way you engage with them is a huge determinant of what actually comes forth from them."
This is true whether we are acting as a boss, a colleague, a parent or a customer. In my experience, how we treat others accounts for at least 50% of their performance. Motivate an employee, show appreciation for a colleague, demonstrate confidence in a child, respect a service provider—all these acts will double our chances of receiving a positive response. But criticize an employee (especially in front of others), step on a colleague's turf, doubt a child, or blame a service provider, and we cut in half our chances of getting the performance we seek.
McDermott's article is all about moments that make followers intensely committed to their leaders. He says, "Followership, I’ve learned, is earned one interaction at a time. Face-to-face. Voice-to-voice. And often during times of challenge."
That last point is key: often, we decide whether we'll follow a leader based not on their character when things are going well, but on their actions when things are difficult.
