Last winter I had the privilege of driving a dog sled. Not just ride in it. Drive it. Let me tell you something, these dogs want to run. That’s all they want to do. They are very upset when they are not running. They are very happy when they are running. When you walk up on a dog sled team, the dogs are barking and jumping and being all hyperactive. Like, chill out, dogs. It’s because they aren’t running. Once they get going they shut right the hell up. It is weird.
This may come as a huge surprise but leading people is very different from driving a dog sled. Being a leader isn’t as easy as cracking a whip (I did not get a whip) and yelling “Mush!” Leadership, strangely, is all about leading.
Yet many people, when placed in a leadership position, take the sled dog driver approach with the misguided belief that the people they are supposed to lead will just run when told. If that were true, more Iditarod sled dog drivers would be recruited for Fortune 500 CEO positions.
Alas…
Leadership isn't about sending people in a direction without direction. Leadership is about being able to explain the benefits of achieving the goal. It's about giving your sled dogs (as it were) the tools to succeed and the language for them to explain the plan well for themselves and to others. This is easier said than done because people (again, unlike dogs) will question just about everything. As the leader this is annoying as hell because you really just want to crack the whip and yell “mush!” The benefit to all this questioning, though, is that people, once they buy into the plan will (very much like dogs) run like hell.
You have to be able to answer your dogs - even if they don’t ask the question. Pretend that the people you are trying to lead are strapped to a sled, but they aren’t going to run unless you can answer some fairly simple questions1:
WHERE WE ARE GOING?
For people to actually want to get where you want them to go means explaining exactly where that is. If you don’t know where you are going, if you can’t explain it clearly, your sled dogs aren’t going to know where to go either. More than that, they will question the effort needed to get where you don’t know you are going.
WHY ARE WE GOING?
Your sled dogs, once they are convinced that you know where you’re going, will want to know the rationale behind being shackled to a damned sled. This expedition is going to require work, for god’s sake, there better be a sound justification for getting strapped in. Your dogs are going to weigh that effort against the benefits of not putting forth that effort. It’s up to you to explain why the benefit is worth it.
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE?
I worked at Universal Studios Florida and there is this rule about telling people how long they are going to have to wait in line: You tell them it is going to be longer than it actually is. Why? Because you are setting an expectation. When you beat that expectation, people are happy. When you don’t beat that expectation, people get angry. This might sound like I’m selling the benefit of beating expectations. I’m not.
I’m selling the reality of expecting that people expect expectations.
WHO IS GOING?
This seems like a dumb question because the answer is “everyone strapped to this damned dog sled, that’s who!” As a leader you need to explain the value each member brings to the team - often having to convince individuals that they do, in fact, have the qualities necessary to get the job done AND convincing other individuals that other individuals do, in fact, also have the qualities necessary to get the job done2. Convincing everyone that everyone (singularly and as a team) has the skills to get where everyone needs to go is like herding cats and will make you wish you had dogs.
HOW ARE WE GETTING THERE?
This question is the one question that will drive a leader to madness. After going through the where, why, when, and who you would think the “how” portion of the discussion to be self explanatory. Perhaps this is the most important part of leadership: taking the where, why, when, and who and demonstrating how the “how” puts it all together.
IT’S WHAT YOU’D DO FOR YOURSELF
This may all sound like a lot of work. Like, maybe you’ll leave leadership to someone else. But all of the dynamics of being a good leader are all of the same dynamics of leading yourself. You want to know where you are going, when you’re going to get there, who’s going, and how you’re going to get there. Being able to answer these questions well will put you at ease. It is the same for the members of your team. All they are looking for is answers to the same questions you would ask of yourself.
Now crack that whip and yell “Mush!!”
“Because I said so” is the one answer that will cause all of your dogs to stop dead in their tracks.
”Steve is an idiot”
“Yes, but he can work a spreadsheet like no one else.”