Don't Be a Bonsai Leader

“So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.”

(Paul’s Letter to the Romans 14:19, HCSB)

I once saw a demonstration of how to grow a bonsai tree. I was horrified to watch the professional horticulturist brutally hack away at a tree branch as he told how the tree, if left to its own nature, would grow to an unpredictable shape, large and reproductive. The goal of bonsai gardening, he explained, is to force the tree to grow small and remain small in a shape that is pleasing to the gardener and that will fit into the pot where the tree is intended to live. Bonsai trees do not reproduce. Later, I came across a website for “Bonsai Leadership” and I thought, “this must be a joke!” When I think of a “bonsai leader” I can only imagine someone who hacks away at people to force them into a cookie-cutter mold that can be controlled and micro-managed. Why would anyone want to be a bonsai leader?  (I honestly do not intend to offend anyone who might be associated with that group or with bonsai gardening.)

Wikipedia describes bonsai:

“Bonsai can be created from nearly any… tree or shrub species… its growth is restricted by the pot environment. Several times a year, the bonsai is shaped to limit growth… and meet the artist's detailed design…. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees, but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses cultivation techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-sized trees.”

Bonsai leaders achieve conformity, uniformity and deformity

While bonsai leadership might achieve conformity and uniformity, its ultimate result is controlled deformity. The bonsai tree was not originally intended by its creator to be small and sterile. By forcing the plant to grow small, it becomes a deformed imitation of its original intended purpose. In the same way, individuals respond to bonsai leadership by becoming small imitations of what they were meant to be.  By hacking away at any attempts to grow outside the box, the bonsai leader trains individuals, like a bonsai tree, to be ornamental instead of allowing them to grow to their maximum potential and multiplying their contribution to the organization’s purpose. “My way or the highway” is often the theme of such a leader.

Leader-builders achieve diversity, variety and purpose

The best leaders are not threatened by the leadership potential in the people they lead. To the contrary, they actually work at building up others and multiplying their own effectiveness as they celebrate the diverse gifts and abilities of others. The best leaders recognize that it is precisely this diversity that contributes to the organization fulfilling its purpose and reaching its objectives. While uniformity might be easier to control, it is variety that builds strength in the team.

Hint to the Leader

Consider whether your leadership style is characterized by building up or tearing down. You could be doing a bonsai on your workers without realizing it. What can you do to encourage the people you lead to grow to their potential and use their unique gifts, talents and experience to contribute positively to the company’s goals and objectives?

           

Hint to the Follower

If you feel like you are the bonsai, hang in there! Never forget that your were meant to grow and be productive. Start looking for ways to reproduce and multiply yourself by mentoring others. Learn from the mistakes of others. Determine now that you will not be a bonsai leader.

[See also “Stress and Job Dissatisfaction”, April 4, 2010]

© Copyright Dr. Larry Gay, April 2011

"Lessons on Leadership and Followership"

http://mylead360.blogspot.com/

Being Precedes Doing

          Recently, I have talked with several people who left their place of work because they were expected to do something that they considered to be unethical or in violation of their values. In one or two cases, the individual felt they were being asked to do something that they knew was illegal. At some point, you have to decide if your core values line up with the values and culture of the organization. You might decide you can live with some minor discrepancies because higher priority values are still being met, but when core values are being violated the time comes when ways must part.

          When my sons were adolescents, whenever they would leave the house to go out with friends I would always say, “Remember who you are and whose you are.” They never asked what I meant by that. They knew that I was trusting them to remember their upbringing and to act according to the values my wife and I had tried to instill in them.

          There was only one caveat to that. I assumed that my values had become their values when, in fact, they were in the process of deciding just what their own values were. So they acted according to their own sense of right and wrong which did not always line up with my sense of right and wrong. Naturally, we had a few clashes when our values were not in alignment with each other’s.

          It would have been easy to say, “My way or the highway.” In fact, I did say a few times, “My roof, my rules,” but I valued the relationship, so we tried to come to terms. Frankly, some of my values needed to be put to the test. And then there were other values—core values—that were non-negotiable. Having teenagers forced me to prioritize some of my values and determine which were negotiable (and to what degree) and which were non-negotiable.

          Our values determine who we are and how we will act. So being really does precede doing. If my values and the values of the organization are in alignment, I should not have much trouble keeping the rules and acting in accordance with the organization’s policies and practices. If, however, the organization allows rules and regulations to be put into place that are not in alignment with its own stated values, then all sorts of problems can result… and will. 

          The official rules and regulations are not the only source of problems. Consider a manager who is allowed (or even encouraged) to continue to practice actions that violate the values and/or rules and regulations that support those values. The people under this manager’s authority and influence will be conflicted with questions:

- Why is this person being allowed to act this way?

- Could it be that the company’s real values are not what they say?

- What should I do about this?

          All too often, individuals and organizations fail to do the most loving thing of all, which is to take corrective action as soon as any behavior is detected which violates any known value. Dissatisfaction will grow until someone finally feels compelled to act—probably by leaving, being encouraged to leave, or flat out being fired. Either way the result will not be uplifting for anyone.

          So how do we turn this around to a positive note?

Hint to the Leader

- Take a hard, critical look at your organization’s core values and compare these to your current policies and regulations. Where do you see misalignment? What can you do to bring these back into alignment?

- What corrective action have you been putting off that should have been taken earlier? What values are being infringed upon by this behavior? What negative consequences are resulting because of your delay to act? What should you do about it? Do you have the will to do it?

Hint to the Follower

           

- Know yourself. Determine your own core values.

- If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with your work, could it possibly be because some personal value is at odds with the policies or practices of your organization? 

- If a manager is demanding something of you that you know to be contrary to the values and culture of the organization, what alternatives to leaving can you see?  With whom should you share your concerns before taking action?

                                                                                                                   

Previous articles on the subject of alignment:

Your Roadmap to More Effective Leadership (Jan 10, 2010);

The Stewardship Factor (May 2, 2010);

Stress and Job Dissatisfaction (April 4, 2010)

Why Vision, Purpose and Values are Still Important

© Copyright 2010, Dr. Larry N. Gay, http://mylead360.blogspot.com/ “Lessons on Leadership and Followership”

When Enough is Enough

(Fourth in a series on Aligning for Productivity)

"Failure to deal with the problems people and organizations face can be the most unloving action of all."

(Leith Anderson, Dying for Change)

"Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is… self‑condemned."

(Titus 3:10-11)

For many supervisors the most difficult part of leadership is confronting someone whose behavior or performance is unacceptable. Remember, the purpose of corrective action is not to punish the individual for poor behavior or poor performance. Instead, your goal as a leader should be to help the person find the best place where their personal sense of calling, vision and life goals are aligned with and contributing to the organization's vision and mission. It is your responsibility as a leader to help people understand the vision and adjust their behaviors to align with it to the degree that they can. .

A noncompliant person should be made aware of the consequences of continued failure to meet expectations. Even if the individual becomes grudgingly compliant, there comes a point where such passive-aggressive behavior becomes destructive and unacceptable. I have found the two-warning rule to be very helpful in such cases. It's one thing for a person to use their influence to effect change that can help the organization fulfill its mission. It's something else entirely, however, when the complaints become destruction and contrary to the direction established by the organization's leadership.

Outplacement is often seen as a heartless action. The real heartless action, however, is when an unacceptable behavior is allowed to go unchecked until things have gotten unbearable for others working close to the offending individual. It's like a father I overheard "correcting" his young child who was misbehaving: "I'm only going to warn you about this 17 more times and then I'm really going to do something about it!" Of course, the child went on being obnoxious and unruly, disturbing everyone else within sight or sound.

Supervisors should recognize that failure to take administrative action hurts both the offending individual and the whole organization. Sometimes, the most loving action a leader can take is to help dissatisfied individuals to discover another place where their personal sense of calling can align with and contribute positively to the vision of that organization.

Grudgingly compliant people can be like a cancer growing in the organization. The longer you delay taking definitive action, the more you allow the cancer to grow. Long-growing cancers require more extensive surgery and more serious post-operative treatment. In the same way, if corrective actions have not helped the individual to make the necessary attitudinal change in a reasonable (and clearly stated) time frame, then the longer you postpone taking action, the more difficult it will be.

The most loving action for all concerned might be to help the individual find another place of service where he or she can find satisfaction and fulfillment. If that is within your organization, that's great... as long as you are not just transferring your problems to another department! If it is in another place, that's great too. Either way, you have the opportunity to help someone reach their maximum potentiality and productivity while also maximizing your organization's resources to realize its vision.

Leadership Hints

• Don't make the mistake of ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away on its own.
• Also, don't make the mistake of jumping to the conclusion that just firing someone will make everything all better.
• Talk with people about the source of their dissatisfaction. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Make every effort to help them grow to an acceptable level of compliance.
• Describe for yourself what the change in behavior will look like, when the change must be made, and how you will know steps are being taken toward the change. Then communicate these very clearly and positively to the individual.
• Don't make threats, but do keep your word--follow through on corrective actions.

Followership Hints

• You really do have a choice.
• Take responsibility for your own attitude and actions.
• Recognize that negative attitudes and actions usually do not produce positive reactions.
• If you have tried to offer positive suggestions of ways to make things better and they have been rejected or ignored, remember—you still have choices.

© Dr. Larry N. Gay, April 2010

http://mylead360.blogspot.com "Lessons on Leadership and Followership"