| By Donna Goss & Don Robertson
Co-Directors, Leadership Development Institute
(Continued from Front Page)
These articles can be examples we share with you, or even better, examples you want to share with us.
As a starter, it is very frustrating to see examples of what we view as poor leadership, get a lot of press and attention. So our first “case study” is not a positive one but an attempt to censure a high profile “leader”. It will only resonate with some of you because it comes from a current “hot” television series; The Apprentice . Since we are constantly seeking examples to demonstrate certain leadership principles to use in our work with clients, we watch The Apprentice with hopes of capturing leadership in action. Unfortunately, we believe The Apprentice to date has only demonstrated a list of practices to avoid.
The show pits a group of individuals against each other to win the title, and accompanying valuable financial reward, of Donald Trump's apprentice. Each week, two teams made up of these individuals, compete at some assigned task. The winning team gets a special reward while the losing team goes to the Board Room where “someone will be fired”. Last man, or woman, standing is the winner.
A typical scene in Donald Trump's Boardroom shows a group of young energetic potential leaders meeting with Trump and his designated assistants to determine who will be fired. The competition is intense and the accompanying behaviors, despicable. As the losing group sits in the Boardroom, they attack each either other, accuse each other of not being team players, find ways to blame a fellow team member, and constantly demonstrate the clear picture that they care only about their own success. Such total self-focus is just the opposite of what leaders should be all about-- serving others. The behavior is real and it is ugly. Why such a response? Consider the following:
For purposes of creating excitement and sensationalism, the creators of this show have gone to extremes to create an environment that encourages those negative practices. They have made the situation very stressful by demanding extreme work hours, providing food and drink that also feeds high stress, and of course, the reward system. The leadership, or we would suggest the lack of leadership, that is modeled is not unusual when you consider the circumstances. It is the environment that is driving the behaviors.
We would promote leaders fostering an environment quite the opposite of what The Apprentice promotes. High performing work environments produce high performance. Consider the following and intentionally set the tone for your employees.
Create a work environment characterized by :
A Commitment to Excellence.
• Learning from everything we do and move on
• Understanding it's about team excellence …… not about the leader's success
There is Personal Accountability.
• Udentifying what could I have done to have helped the situation
• Focusing on blame and excuses is unacceptable
Meaningful Conversations are the Norm.
• Making it easier to talk about what really matters
• Knowing you can't solve effectively with incomplete or bad information
In closing, we will continue to watch The Apprentice in the hopes of seeing positive leadership examples. Sadly, we will probably have to settle for finding negative ones.
Back to Home |
