Levels of leadership thinking
Bruce J. Cavallari
Lieutenant
Palm Beach County (FL) Fire/Rescue
Bill Manning`s “Habits of Highly Unsuccessful Leaders” (Editor`s Opinion, August 1999) exploits the leadership vacuum and exposes 17 habits of highly unsuccessful leaders. I have to admit, as I read this editorial, I reflected on my own department`s labor relations and found several of these characteristics were factors in the difficulties between the fire/rescue administrator and the labor union.
However, are we picking on the obvious negatives of others instead of looking at our own unsuccessful characteristics? Driving down the road thinking about this, something struck me. The bright red color of a car reminded me of my job. As I approached the car, certain flaws became apparent. Although the flaws were small, they distracted me from looking at the whole car. I never once considered my own vehicle`s flaws. It occurred to me that the flaws of others and negative thoughts in general are much easier to concentrate on than the positive attributes of others or our own flaws. Think about it. When you speak of someone, do you extol his positive or negative attributes? Going negative is by far the most popular direction. It seems that pointing out the bad of a person or organization is simply easier. Why is that?
Perhaps it is maturity or experience, the lack thereof in both cases, that makes mudslinging easier. But seeing that car and the little dents along its side reminded me that maybe I was missing a perspective in this editorial that simply wasn`t readily apparent. As I said, finding fault is much easier than finding good. It is the natural progression–or should I say regression–of human development to locate the negative aspects of a person, idea, subject, or location and pounce on those negatives in a way that makes our own “down side” seem less obvious.
When you read this editorial, did you think to yourself, “My chief fits into just about every one of these characteristics”? Or, did you say, “I think I may be guilty of a couple of these traits”? Did you say, “I hope my chief is reading this article” or “I`m glad I am reading this article”? Did you think, “I`m going to write these down and tape them to my desk and make damn sure I don`t fall into that trap”?
There is an old saying: What doesn`t kill you teaches you how to live. What can we learn from unsuccessful leaders? What can we learn from our own unsuccessful characteristics? We can learn how to avoid the traps of leadership, or we can fall headlong into them. We can learn that all of us, from firefighter to fire administrator, are leaders and followers together. We can learn that the traits of unsuccessful leadership are learned from our very inception and are reinforced throughout our career until our very last day on this planet. And thus, we can learn that even a rookie firefighter can practice the characteristics of unsuccessful leadership as he deals with his supervisors and his perception of this job.
There is no time like the present to begin changing for the better. To make a change, we must come to understand how we think. Our thought processes as leaders and followers have created the good and bad characteristics. I have found four dimensions of thinking that have helped me to understand how leaders think and thus how best to interact with them and with myself:
The first-dimensional leader/follower thinks he knows what`s best for everyone. He is a “my way or the highway” kind of person. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. A one-dimensional thinker believes that what is good for him is good for everyone. If he didn`t think of it, then it must not be a very good idea.
The second-dimensional leader/follower is only a marginal improvement over his one-dimensional counterpart. This type of individual thinks that “there is the right way, a wrong way, and my way” of doing things. The improvement is that this leader is at least willing to admit that there are other ways of doing things. For some this is a quantum leap. Still, it is unsettling to realize that even though this leader knows there is a right way, he still prefers his own perspective.
The third-dimensional leader/follower has his own belief as to what the right course of action is. And, he understands the traditional, historical courses of action. He also is willing to ask others what they think the right course of action is. Imagine your chief coming to you asking your opinion on a course of action–and then be willing to accept that course of action. It takes great self-esteem to subordinate your opinion to someone else`s.
The fourth-dimensional leader/follower has improved on the 3-D leader in one aspect. He understands that time can present many more solutions to problems and knows that if the simplest solution does not present itself immediately, waiting, in many cases, will improve the chances of finding the best course of action. Again, this requires tremendous self-confidence and experience.
Most leaders and followers waver back and forth among all of these levels throughout their careers. At times, when your self-confidence was low, you probably were very one-dimensional; when your self-confidence was high, you may have been closer to the three- or four-dimensional level. Change is not the problem; getting comfortable in low-esteem areas is.
As leaders, we have a responsibility to provide the best guidance we can to those who have placed their trust in our performance–the public in general and firefighters in particular. As followers, we have a responsibility to support our leaders and give them the benefit of our thoughtful advice. Understand that we will fall into the traps of unsuccessful leaders and contribute to our “organizational leadership vacuum” if we capitalize on another`s lack of self-confidence.
I must admit that knowing how my supervisors think has not improved my relationship with every one of them. I`ve come to believe that some of their thought processes are somewhat narrow. Knowing how and why I perceived their leadership as being narrow has allowed me to try to expand my leadership characteristics. I am certain that my self-confidence has not been well accepted, but I am equally certain, beyond any doubt, that my understanding and avoidance of the leadership vacuum have benefited those who have trusted me to do the best job I can.
