Leadership’s Rotating ‘V’
A young leader I work with finds himself in a position that most of us do, at one time or another. Jonathon's concern is simple, but real: how to determine what the passions are that drive his life and his career, so that he can be good at his job while also maintaining a balance between his professional and personal lives. The siren song of professional accomplishment and the desire to succeed at all costs is strong. And as most successful leaders soon discover, balance can be difficult.
Embrace All Your Passions
One of the concerns he wrestles with is the idea that he must choose and focus on a single passion or skill among the many he possesses to the exclusion of the others if he is to get ahead and be recognized as a successful and skilled leader. In other words, he feels as if he must prioritize without cause, that one of the passions must win out over the others — a zero sum game of leadership.
I disagree. They all have a place. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be passions, and he wouldn’t be as effective a leader as he is. In fact, I have discovered that the best leaders out there are those who have a wide range of interests, of magnetic passions, but who also search for the connections between them, to view them as parts of a greater whole.
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Leadership Lessons From the Lead Goose in the 'V'
I asked Jonathan if he had ever seen geese flying overhead in the ‘V’-formation they use during spring and fall migration. Of course, he told me. All the time.
Do you know why they fly in that formation? I asked. He didn’t. So, I told him — because it’s relevant to the question at hand.
Look closely at the ‘V’ of geese flying overhead, and it will become clear that a single goose is in the lead position, flying at the apex — the tip of the spear. The others are arranged in pairs behind, with each pair slightly farther apart than the pair ahead of them.
The lead goose has a difficult job. During migration, the formation flies at a nominal speed of about 40 miles-per-hour, although they’ve been known to reach speeds as fast as 70. But even at 40, they deal with an enormous amount of wind resistance. The job of the lead bird is to use its body to break up the opposing windstream so that the following birds don’t have to. It’s like bicycle riders drafting in behind the lead rider, because the wind resistance is lower.
But the lead goose can only do this for so long, because it requires an inordinately high amount of energy and is therefore tiring. So, the bird in the front of the ‘V’ will stay in that position until it gets tired, at which point another bird will move forward, and the leader rotates back to rest. This happens constantly, a form of precise, carefully orchestrated teamwork that serves every member of the formation equally.
The reason I offered this avian analogy is because it works to help Jonathan deal with his leadership conundrum.
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Learning Opportunities
Variety and Balance Enrich Leadership Capabilities
As a long-time advisor to leadership teams all over the world, I have found that too much time spent on a single activity, passion, interest or commitment creates imbalance, and leadership effectiveness suffers as a result.
I use myself as an example. The things that occupy my time, both personally and professionally (excluding the very important time I spend with my wife, kids and grandkids), are reading, writing, studying business and technology trends, lecturing and public speaking, teaching, scripting and producing podcasts, wildlife sound recording and nature photography. I do them all, and I can tell you without hesitation that spending time with each of these passions makes me better at the others. But if I spend too much time on any one of them — studying business trends, for example, or lecturing — the others suffer. They become stale and sometimes awkward. And I burn out on whichever one of them I’m giving too much of my time to.
Let me be clear, some of these passions (wildlife sound recording, nature photography) appear to be hobbies, but they, as much as the others, make me a better professional and a better person. Reading, writing, speaking and studying business and technology are my professional bread and butter. Lecturing, public speaking and teaching allow me to share what I know for the benefit of others, but also allow me to test what I know against other points-of-view.
Podcasting forces me to do research, to tell stories, to share what I know in a non-visual way — which forces me to know my subject matter cold. And wildlife sound recording? It teaches me to not just hear, but to listen, a critical business and interpersonal skill. Nature photography teaches me awe and respect, and to not just look, but see, another critical business and interpersonal skill.
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Know When to Fall Back and Let Others Take the Lead 'V' Position
Back to our geese flying in formation. In the same way that the geese rotate the lead position for maximum team efficiency, I do the same with my activities. I may focus heavily on writing for a time, during which writing occupies the front goose position in my ‘V.’ After a while, I grow tired of putting pen to paper. My effectiveness and creativity wane, so I allow my writing to fall back into the ‘V,’ replaced by photography, or sound recording, or production of a podcast as the lead role. The process continues, all day, every day, with each of my activities temporarily fighting the headwinds of distraction for all the others. In exchange, each lead goose (each interest or passion) gets stronger, but is then given time to rest and think about what its role is in the grander scheme of things.
Good leaders balance passion in their personal and professional lives. Because if they don’t, they become breeding grounds for resentment, inaction and mediocre performance. It’s important to be the lead goose. But it’s equally important to fall back and let others lead on occasion, using the time in the back of the ‘V’ to think, consider, ponder and reflect. Those are all signs of an effective, passion-driven leader.
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About the Author
Dr. Steven Shepard is the founder of the Shepard Communications Group in Williston, Vt.
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