Real Leaders Don't Boss

by Ritch K. Eich

  Economic Challenges

  Keeping a company and its staff afloat in tough economic times requires special leadership. To maintain the forward momentum is an even greater challenge, even for real leaders.

  Harold S. Edwards, president and CEO of California-based Limoneira Company, a major global producer of citrus, is one of those leaders focused on maintaining his company’s strategic and community edge despite today’s bumpy economy, and he’s quick to admit it is not easy:

  Strategically plotting Limoneira’s course through an extremely treacherous economic downturn has tested me. Keeping the board focused on strategic and governance issues and the management team focused on managerial issues during the recent unprecedented downturn in the U.S. economy has been the most challenging situation for me since assuming the helm at Limoneira. Plotting our strategic course while managing significant real estate exposure has been a true test for me.

  Being able to display the courage and confidence in specific ventures while making the difficult decisions to exit others (sometimes at a loss) while moving the hearts and minds of Limoneira’s board, its managers, and its shareholders forward toward greater shareholder value has been the challenge. Diversification has allowed us to weather the storm. Limoneira is in position to create significant value as the local and regional economies heal. Keeping everyone on the board and within management rowing in the same direction and focused on solving problems (as opposed to only identifying them) has allowed us to sail through this difficult phase intact. Keeping Limoneira’s hearts and minds together has been a true challenge for me and one of my greatest professional tests to date.14

  Through all of these challenges, Edwards has remained a leader who demonstrates a tremendous confidence, positive image, and a real gift for building consensus among different groups involved in his operation. These, as well as the other qualities he mentioned, have helped his company weather the storm.

  All types of leaders are tested by the economic realities of today. Some survive—and even thrive—while others do not. As Edwards’s words attest, it can be rough even for companies with strong leadership. It is easy to succeed—or at least wear the trappings of success in terms of profits—when everyone is buying and marketplaces are thriving. It is far more difficult when markets are stagnant, but that is when real leaders rise to the occasion, rally their troops and their communities, and make a difference.

  Understanding Real Leadership

  Perhaps one of the simplest ways to better understand the power of real leadership is to consider what you like and what you don’t like in a leader. Consider some of the following questions as they relate to those in leadership roles. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Instead, your answers should help you put together a list of favorable and unfavorable traits in a leader:

  What do you admire about your leader or leaders in general?

  How do you react to particular approaches this leader takes?

  Does your leader foster effective relationships with you and others?

  Does your leader encourage you to stretch, and does she or he empower you to further develop your skill set?

  What makes you want to do just the opposite of what a person in a leadership role says?

  How do you react when someone orders you to do something rather than suggest an approach that might work, or help you come up with the answer?

  Now ask yourself, “What is it I truly dislike about the trait and why?” Is it because of the attitude it conveys, the approach that the leader takes, or simply the content of the message? Figuring out the specific strengths and weaknesses of the leaders you know can help you in your own quest for real leadership. Keep in mind that if you model a certain behavior, others likely will follow your lead. Are your actions commensurate with your goals and ideals?

  You Can Do It, Too

  Consider one of the 20th century’s greatest leaders, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who led our country through one of its most difficult times despite his own personal ill health. FDR was a true servant leader who put the well-being of the country and its people—his “company” and its “employ-ees”—well ahead of his own. Roosevelt was elected president at the height of the Great Depression, and was able to inspire and guide the country through most of World War II. Roosevelt personally was wealthy, yet he was a master motivator of the masses who could inspire others by placing their well-being above his own, providing clear direction and goals, giving his team—the administration as well as the American people—the tools they needed to accomplish those goals, and then offering encouragement and moral support all along the way.

  To develop your own servant leadership potential, practice the art of sacrifice for others rather than thinking of having subordinates or followers. Champion your team, troops, or staff by always helping and promoting them. Set the most enviable example and let your actions demonstrate what serving others truly means. Take FDR’s lead: put the greater good of the organization above your own, set clear direction and goals for your organization and its people, never ask more of others than you do of yourself, and provide encouragement and praise along the way.

  Takeaway

  Real leaders make profound differences in the lives of those around them, they help others achieve greatness in the workplace and in life spaces, and they boost professional and personal bottom lines in the process.

  Today’s leadership gap is very real. Employee satisfaction with its leaders is at an all-time low, middle managers aren’t satisfied with their bosses, and leaders admit their own behavior often is lacking.

  Real leadership is a 24/7 occupation and lifestyle.

  Real leaders do not seek the limelight. Rather, they embody the true qualities of effective leadership; they are always available, are never too busy to help others, and always go the extra mile.

  Poor leadership leads not only to unhealthy bottom lines, but to unhealthy employees, too.

  Leadership is not a birthright. Real leaders are nurtured and developed.

  Real leadership shouldn’t be only at the top of an organization; it must pervade all levels.

  Today’s workspace and marketplace are wired, global, and changing. That means leaders must change, too, or companies risk losing their competitive edge.

  Real leadership is not about amassing personal power; it’s about the ability to unleash the strengths of others and in turn create a culture of success.

  Chapter 2

  Real Leaders Don’t Boss

  My definition of leadership is the combination of vision and selfless consensus building.

  —Harold Edwards, president and CEO,

  Limoneira Company

  Bosses certainly are not in short supply; real leaders are the elusive commodity. In the workplace and throughout life, each of us encounters leadership behaviors or organizational policies that we like or admire, and that we may try to adapt to our own business situations and lives. Conversely, we all know of, have seen, or have suffered firsthand from those bosses with not-so-admirable behaviors and policies that often are ineffective, counterproductive, and sometimes offensive. Of those people and their behaviors and policies we think, “Absolutely no way will I ever act that way!”

  Follow-through on that statement, however, may be another matter. We are usually taught to boss, not to lead, and in many cases, bosses are the most prevalent role models. Rare today is the individual who inspires others with focus, trust, strategic know-how, and an instinct for knowing what’s important, along with the ability to selflessly rally and mobilize his or her troops.

  Leader Versus Boss

  Unfortunately, many self-professed and corporate-appointed “leaders” are little more than bosses. Some have a few hours of instant leadership training. Others claim they are in the position because of their “natural knack” for the job, and still others simply find themselves saddled with the responsibilities. Sadly, any brief or extended training aside, the end result is still a boss and no
t a real leader.

  Throughout my four-decade-long career in a variety of sectors reporting to all types of decision-makers, I have seen all kinds of chief executives—good and bad—in action. I also have dealt with a few bosses who were philanderers, racists, bullies, and egomaniacs with anger-management problems. Many were intellectually bright, but their behaviors undermined the success their organizations could have achieved with real leadership. For example, one philanderer had an executive assistant who he insisted be promoted despite her incompetence. It turns out she had filed a sexual discrimination suit against him. Another executive took office parties as a license to dance cheek-to-cheek with employees. It seems he also had a reputation of playing around after hours with his staffers.

  Consider how the approach and behavior of a real leader differs from that of a boss when it comes to a few key workplace issues:

  Corporate success: A leader focuses on long-term results and positions his or her company for ongoing success. A boss is too concerned about the next quarter’s bottom line to have a big-picture perspective.

  Employees: A leader is a champion for his or her employees. A boss sees employees as a means to an end.

  Communication: A leader connects directly with the board, shareholders, customers, suppliers, and with the employee base, and takes the time to listen and respond in a thoughtful and humble manner that values all these people. A boss pays lip service to employees but is more focused on his or her own well-being.

  Respect for others: A leader shows congeniality and respect to everyone regardless of rank. A boss is pleasant and charming to executives, while indifferent or demeaning toward those he or she supervises.

  Conflict resolution: A leader recognizes that conflict is inevitable at one time or another. He or she deals with it by channeling it to constructive ends. A boss often creates conflict but fails to deal with it effectively.

  Behavior of managers: A leader prohibits demeaning, disrespectful, or verbally abusive behavior from his or her managers. A boss ignores that kind of behavior and may exhibit it himself or herself.

  Respecting the personal life of an employee: A leader recognizes that employees enjoy a private and personal life outside of the business and appreciates the need to maintain a work/life balance for well-being and productivity. A boss overloads his team with many tasks and impossible due dates, then micromanages them.

  Getting the job done: A leader works to remove obstacles for his or her employees, provides the necessary resources, and expedites processes to make it easier for others to accomplish their jobs. A boss creates roadblocks that get in the way of the job, lead to pointless extra work, and create unnecessary frustration.

  The Ugly Executive

  The Ugly American by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick (W.W. Norton, 1999), originally published in 1958, was required high school reading when I was in school. It describes a character who has little sensitivity toward or interest in others. Little did I realize at the time that later in the workplace I would meet head-on the ugly American’s cousin, the “ugly executive.” A leader’s primary responsibility is to articulate a vision and establish a set of strategies that unleashes the creativity, freedom, and individual potential of the workforce. The behavior of the “ugly executive” drains an organization of critically needed energy, strength, creativity, passion, and loyalty, and threatens essential relationships with key constituencies.

  Unattractive Behaviors

  Who are these ugly executives we all have likely encountered at one time or another? In many cases their egomaniacal actions drag their companies down with them. Here are a few of the most offensive traits and the behaviors associated with the ugly executive:

  Lying. An organization’s CEO tells one of his managers that her employment contract for the new fiscal year is somewhere on his desk, but he isn’t exactly sure where it is specifically. Time passes and no contract materializes, so the manager asks again about her contract. This time, the CEO snaps at her, “Well, you’re getting paid, aren’t you?” The manager asks the HR department chief about the contract, and she honestly tells the manager that the president has not requested they draft a contract for her.

  Egotism. The leader of the C-suite directs her executive assistant to call the hotel where she plans to stay on an upcoming business trip and to secure the largest or most impressive suite of rooms. If it is not up to her standards in size or opulence, she will demand another hotel.

  Arrogance. Several company employees are on a commercial flight or company plane, and the executive among them sits apart from the others and ignores them for the duration of the flight.

  Tyranny. At the last minute, the boss decides to have lunch in his office and commands an administrative assistant to go outside the building to get his meal. After he is finished eating, he chastises the assistant for the “poor quality” of the meal as he shoves the food tray away in a demeaning manner.

  Romantic liaison. One CEO wanted to hire a young woman he was sleeping with (he was married at the time). Her credentials didn’t match the criteria for any vacant jobs at the company, so he created a new executive position by combining elements from the duties of other vice presidents. The young woman was unable to do the work, so the vice presidents got their assignments back. But the woman remained on the payroll as “an executive without portfolio.”

  Racism and/or sexism. The company chairman periodically invites his vice presidents, all of whom are white males, to his favorite restaurant for lunch, and proceeds to rattle off a string of racist and/or sexist jokes. The company’s ethnic make-up—as well as that of the managers—reflects the CEO’s biased attitudes, too.

  Bullies on the Job

  As a teen during summers spent working at manual labor in the peach orchards throughout Yuba and Sutter counties in California, I watched how hard others worked alongside me, and that reinforced the importance of a strong work ethic. One or two situations also taught me that bullies have no place in any workplace. However, that does not mean they do not exist.

  As a young adult, I worked as a fruit inspector for the California Department of Agriculture, checking the quality of the products farmers would bring to be inspected before being sold to the canneries. It was up to me—from all appearances a young kid—to reject rotten products or those of unacceptable quality. One day after I had rejected a particularly rotten truckload of peaches, a clearly irate—and intoxicated—rancher stormed up to me, obviously intent on bullying me into submission. He ripped his shirt off; the buttons flew into the air as he raised his fists to fight. Instead of fighting, though, I attempted to reason with him. Eventually I told him that if he did not want to accept my ruling on his load of fruit—which likely represented an important portion of his income—I would be happy to call in the district supervisor for a second opinion. I did, and my supervisor rejected the fruit even more resoundingly than I had. The dejected farmer backed down, drove off, and probably dumped his fruit that no doubt he knew was unacceptable.

  In addition to being rather startled by the encounter, I recognized that I had done the right thing—to reason rather than to fight verbally or physically, and to remain true to my ideals and directions.

  More on Sexist Behavior

  Too many times I’ve watched highly capable women passed over for promotions or marginalized, not because of their lack of ability, but simply because they are women. Here are several examples (the names and companies are withheld to protect the individuals):

  An African-American woman held a variety of positions in the organization, all of which stymied her abilities. It almost seemed as if the firm didn’t know—or care—what to do with her. She was well-versed in the region and knew most of the CEOs in the city personally—few could match that asset alone—which enabled her to open doors. She was street smart, had class, and was very resilient. I eventually realized that the insecure CEO had marginalized her because he considered her a threat and was uncomfortable in her presence.

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p; An older woman had devoted most of her working life to her employer. She had a superb grasp of the history, values, and traditions of the business and community, and was the go-to person for a variety of information. Many of the males on staff—including the CEO—rather than recognize her strengths, saw her as “over the hill” and a busy-body who was too old to be of value.

  A younger woman at another organization was incredibly industrious, was refined, and had an infectious sense of humor. She did her job well, and her peers knew they always could count on her. But her supervisor rarely supported her, even when he knew it was the right thing to do. He was one of those particularly insecure bosses who smiled up the organization, sucking up to his superiors, and frowned down it, disrespecting or ignoring those in lesser positions.

  Another woman at a different organization was the perfect employee. She had a sense of humor, was highly skilled in her job, and knew the right people in business and leadership roles throughout the region. Yet she remained in the same job and was always passed over for the prime assignments. Instead of capitalizing on the woman’s strengths, the chief executive considered her a nuisance.

  Racism Intolerable

  One of the biggest workplace detriments regarding racism, as with many of the other unacceptable workplace behaviors mentioned here, is that its opposite—diversity—yields powerful advantages. A few of these include:

  Innovation, curiosity, and creativity. Leaders are receptive to how ideas are created, and understand that without new ideas, they will lose a significant competitive edge. Bold, new ideas seldom take place in a vacuum; they happen at intersections and often are the result of a spark generated by the intermingling of people with different perspectives, life circumstances, and cultures.