MERRILY WE GO ALONG ...

Leading today has become a dirty word.

Almost every week there’s a story of a president, a politico, a business guru who falls and fails.  U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs leader Eric Shinseki is the latest; we’ll guarantee there will be others … and soon.

No question:  Consequences of leader actions and decisions are often front-page news before there’s time to sneeze.  The microscope of public opinion is much more harsh, more intense, and less forgiving than even a year or so ago. Even as individuals, we have far less patience, and a far quickened anger, with those who do us (or others) wrong.

Is part of the issue a lack of followership?  Ever since Robert Greenleaf coined the word “servant-leader” in 1970, there seems to be a tacit understanding that the best leader is also a follower, a servant.  Yet the gaps between understanding and practice today are quite large.

The difficulty, we say, lies in the word ‘follower.’  It sounds half-hearted, wimpy, tantamount to a losing proposition.  It’s the mark of an also-ran, a high-potential who never reached the business summit.

Yet all capabilities of any leader, from awareness and diplomacy to courage, collaboration, and critical thinking, must be embedded in the astute follower too.  Getting ahead these days demands that we seize the initiative, anticipate, become goal driven, and offer solutions – as well as being compassionate and loyal.  Leaders, in sum, aren’t the only ones who have these attributes; we too need to learn, to assume, and to be satisfied with following. 

Perhaps the word “follower-leader” needs a PR campaign.  Or, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, an acceptance of the re-phrasing of Polonius’ advice to Laertes:  “neither a leader nor a follower be.”

THE E*D*U*C*A*T*I*O*N OF US

The jury’s still out, as they say.

Everyone, though, agrees on one fact:  The current (and sad) state of American education.  After that, there’s zip consensus, with remedies as wide ranging as our demographics, from charter schools and online curricula to the strict disciplines and draconian demands of the early to mid-20^th century. 

Our take:  No one’s right.  And no one agrees.

What bothers us most about this ongoing, never-settled argument are the implications for us, as mentors, coaches, and teachers for our professions.  A healthy debate, according to our thinking, should be about forever learning, or life-long education.  The skills and knowledge we accrue throughout our earlier business years only serves as a great foundation for continuing to feed ourselves intellectually.

Yet there’s always a but. 

All these ruminations got started when we volunteered last year as teaching assistants in an urban Midwestern elementary school.  Now we’re interacting with what might be would-be communicators and designers and marketers of tomorrow. 

It’s not pretty.  Kids can’t spell, can’t read, can’t do simple math – in spite of one-on-one work and patient repetitions and drills.    They do like to draw, and express themselves freely when asked for visual representations of concepts and numbers.  And they’re extremely voluble, looking for conversations about home and life and the world.  But not about school and education.

What does that mean for us as practitioners?  Where are the future change leaders and branding experts?  And how do we engage our staff, our teams in not only helping them learn and grow, but supporting  others in their brain- and capability-building efforts?

It’s a puzzlement.  And a very personal responsibility that begs for hearing about lessons learned – from others.