Leading Through The Storm - The Eagle Perspective

A friend recently said to me: “I couldn’t do what you do because all you do

is clean up other people’s messes.”

At first I was a bit taken aback by his comment, but, upon reflection, it’s as

good a description as any of the work I do. I’m usually not called in until

someone’s in a mess–when something is broken–but, at that point, I help people

soar above the storm. Whether it’s a conflict they need sorted out, a negotiation

gone awry, diversity issues or an executive team in need of development and

coaching, I help visionary leaders maintain the perspective that will allow them to

see their stormy environment as opportunities for growth, productivity and

performance.

While I didn’t intentionally choose this career path, I can now see that my

background has given me a unique view of executives and other leaders on the hot

seat. While practicing litigation and standing in front of federal judges for ten

years, I was able to see which executives turned the caldron of adversity into the

seeds of greatness and who floundered in stormy seas. As a founder and executive

of a public company, I helped captain a boat through the challenges of a start-up

and watched the reactions of others who did or did not rise above those issues. In

my current business, I speak to and advise executives who are in the midst of

challenging times.

As with many things, how you view the problems helps determine the result.

One of my clients has been in the property management business for over twenty

years. Since I’m challenged to keep my own household well maintained and

running, I can’t imagine flourishing in that business. And yet Steve is one of the

most upbeat, efficient people I know. He juggles the demands of picky commercial

tenants in dozens of building. He attacks the constant stream of broken skylights,

clogged drains and even collapsed roofs from Denver’s recent record four feet

blizzard without complaint.

“Property management is all about solving problems,” Steve asserts. If you

don’t like solving problems, you shouldn’t be in this business. I love going to work

every day because I know I’m going to be able to fix all those problems and be a

hero.”

Yet, today most of my clients feel overwhelmed with problems in the current

environment. No question that we’re in the midst of stormy seas. In fact, I like to

point out to my audience that it’s a Perfect Storm. If you remember that movie, the

reason it was a perfect storm was that three different fronts coalesced to make a

storm that sailors had been training for centuries to sail through.

Today we’re also assaulted with three challenging fronts: the economy,

world chaos and what I call the “rage gap.” Most executives have not sailed

through these oceans and yet, it’s the storm they’ve been training their entire career

to lead through. This environment provides the opportunity to create outstanding

leaders.

The reality is that many executives today have led only in good times,

without the current challenges of the economy, the constant threat of world

terrorism, ongoing wars and diseases, and the employee morale problem I’ve called

the “rage gap.”

In fact, in good times, most of us became intellectually lazy. We had a false

sense of reality–not security, but reality–meaning that we think something’s real,

but it’s not. We glossed over things; we avoided conflict. We glossed over issues

that were problems because times were good. We focused elsewhere. We became

lazy. We became complacent. In this false sense of reality, we became

intellectually lazy.

Now most of us are in stormy times: bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions,

downsizing, rightsizing, terrorist’s threats and even new diseases such as SARS. In

this kind of storm, we have to heighten our senses. In a way, our senses are

heightened, but unfortunately, they’re heightened on the ground, and on the ground

you can’t see 100 yards ahead–there’s too much smoke and too much fire. In

order to lead through the storm we need to develop what I call the eagle

perspective and soar above it.

We need to increase a certain kind of IQ. We were always smart, but we just

didn’t use it in the way we need to use now. Many executives haven’t developed

what they need to lead through this kind of storm.

When times were good, there were irritants; there were annoyances. Now

there’s downright rage. Any long-time attorney will tell you how this happens.

When times are good, clients don’t sue, they just go on to the next deal, thinking

there’s enough for everyone. When times are bad, everyone sues. In good time,

attorneys who handle transactions–buying and selling property, new stock

offerings–thrive. In bad times, it’s the litigators who clean up. Litigators pray for

bad times.

Most of the people we’re trying to lead are enraged. In fact, many leaders are

also enraged. This sets off a whole psychological dynamic that we need to learn

how to lead through because people are no longer irritated; they’re no longer

annoyed. In fact, they are not just enraged, they are fighting for survival. As one

university executive that I coach recently complained to me, “people are fighting

about paper clips.”

Every skirmish becomes a battle. Have you noticed this? Paper clips become

the issue. The storms have given us a workplace of rage and denial. Workers are

enraged: their sense of reality has been violated; their sense of entitlement has been

undermined. We have created a fearful and raging workforce with all the constant

changes, terrorist threats and the fear of economic insecurity.

And what’s even more difficult is that a lot of the rage has gone

underground. Many people don’t openly acknowledge that they’re angry, they just

work slower, meander around corporate directives or “forget” to accomplish

certain tasks. That leaves executives and managers floundering in a sea of

confusion about why their objectives remain uncompleted.

What I call the rage gap is the gap between employees’ expectations and

reality. Employees held certain expectations during the good times that we can’t

now realize. The first step then is to close that gap. In future newsletter issues,

we’ll address solutions for that challenging problem.

Copyright 2003© Lynne Eisaguirre, all rights reserved

Copyright ©2003 · Lynne Eisaguirre · Workplaces That Work

915 Cottonwood Circle · Golden CO 80401

Voice: 303-216-1020 · Fax: 303-216-1021

Lynne@WorkplacesThatWork.com · www.WorkplacesThatWork.com