by James E. Lukaszewski, author of “Influencing Leaders: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor» with Hélio Fred Garcia
One of the biggest surprises about leaders is that much of what they do is more or less made up on the spot.
I discovered this early in his career, when I had the chance to coach the CEO of a large Midwestern insurance company. To coach at this level, you must meet the person you will be coaching before the scheduled session and there should be almost instant chemistry. It’s a question of chemistry: can you work together; do you feel like you’re both on the same page?
My “beauty pageant” interview with this CEO took place in his beautiful, exotic office at the top of a very tall building. The view was incredible. The office had three fully glazed walls; it was great. It was also very intimidating. As they started talking, it was evident that the CEO had a “visitor management approach” as visitors asked the same questions about the view every time.
As soon as a visitor starts talking or asking questions, I take the visitor’s arm, lead them first to window number one, then around the perimeter, answering any questions on each wall – pointing out landmarks, history, useful details – at about 45 to 60 seconds per window.
As I began to explain the third view from the window, my brain was screaming, “Say something really important, real soon. There’s only one wall left, and that one has the door.” My mental voice was commanding me, “If you want to get this job, you better ask an important question now.” » So I managed to interrupt the CEO with a question.
“Tell me something, do you still know what to do?” » I asked.
“You run a company with 14,000 employees; I have a company with 14 employees. My people expect me to solve today’s problems and move forward for tomorrow, following a plan. Do you know what to do every minute?”
He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Don’t ever tell anyone, but I think the board actually hired me because they knew that half of my major decisions would be made by people who actually knew what they were doing. They hired me because I had a good idea of where we needed to go, and at least half of my decisions would be made by people who actually knew what they were doing. They thought I could estimate and make the decisions.” good decisions in gray areas at least 25 percent of the time The rest 25 percent they kind of left it to me to figure out on my own.
“But I’ll tell you something,” he continued, pointing to the door, “Everyone in this company thinks I have the answers. They think I have a plan. I have news for you, there’s no plan. But if I told that to the people who work for me, they wouldn’t believe it for a minute.”
What I learned from that meeting, and it has stayed with me ever since, is the recognition that CEOs in particular represent 25% of the time. They have to create the sequel. They invent it based on their experience or lack thereof, their worries or fears, and often also perceived opportunities.
This is an extremely interesting insight to have.
When I’m in meetings and the meetings go off the rails, every once in a while he turns to the CEO and asks if this is the part we know how to do, or the part we’re making up as we go along. It’s amazing how incredibly accurate this comment can be.
This happens every day in management, and it’s something we should think about because it’s one of the reasons they let us in. They expect us to help them move the business forward every day, to help them figure out what to do next. It’s one of the greatest contributions you can make.
James E. Lukaszewski is America’s crisis guru, CEO of the Lukaszewski Group. A bestselling author, his next book »Influencing Leaders: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor» with Helio Fred Garcia, will be released on July 26. (Wiley)
