Leadership

I went on a walk with my son yesterday. He's on the last stages of his Eagle Scout rank requirements and he's been roped into a leadership position. This is vexing for him. The younger boys look up to him and like any good leader, he's reluctant, doesn't feel up to the task, and would prefer if everyone would just do their damn jobs. They are not doing their damn jobs and he wants to fix this.

I gave him my advice. Most of us who lead are often thrust into the position out of necessity. We don't want the job. You can't run a business of any size other than subsistence, without eventually being a leader. The first lesson of leadership is nobody wants the job, but if we don't do it, then who will? Good leaders are reluctant leaders. Eager leaders are often the last ones you want leading. If you feel like you don't belong in the role, like an imposter, that's a good sign.

Leadership is about consensus building. There are times when top down leadership is necessary, often when it comes to safety. For example, it's reasonable to say if you don't bring your canteen and flashlight, you can't come on the camping trip. You are making it dangerous for yourself and others (real example). Most of the time, however, we want to build consensus both with other leaders and within the framework of the organization.

Before we have a meeting and make pronouncement, we need fact finding. What is it that is causing problems? What gear is being left behind and how do we prevent that? Who are the problem people? You discuss solutions with senior leadership, and if necessary, meet to implement those solutions.

Perhaps we have a gear check meeting a week before the camping trip to ensure the scouts have their "ten essential items" ready to go. We identify that it's the middle aged scouts who are the problem, old enough not to have their parents pack their gear, young enough not to have their gear sorted properly. You discuss first, meet later, then implement a plan. Meetings are where we finalize ideas we've already hashed out, if we need one at all.

We need to keep the organizational goal in mind. In scouts, they want to have fun. Everyone is there for camaraderie and enrichment. You can create a regimented, militaristic, hierarchical, hard-ass boy scout troop. In fact, my son came from one that was so difficult, it disbanded after that group of kids and their parents, who set the tone, aged out. When everyone quits, you've failed at management.

For my son, the goal is safety, enrichment, and fun. The leadership is going to be strict about safety. You can't go without your flashlight and water bottle. When the boys are too tired to do their hike because they've been playing video games on their phones until four in the morning, enrichment suffers. And when everyone works twice as hard when a small group of kids won't do their assigned tasks, it's certainly not fun. The approach is as light a hand as possible to keep everyone safe, engaged, and having fun.

Who would have thought I would know anything about this stuff? Few of us business owners have formal management training. We are reluctantly thrust into the position, wishing our reports would just do their damn jobs. We want as light a hand as possible, as in the boy scout example. I expect many store owners have the same leadership objectives as my son: safety, fun, and that elusive enrichment.