Page 181 - The extraordinary leader

158 • The Extraordinary Leader

organization faces and what they would recommend as solutions. These
ideas are then combined, bound into an expensive leather-bound report,
presented to upper management, and the consulting firm then presents
a hefty bill to the company for its services. The fact of the matter is that the
employees would have been willing to tell the executives exactly the same
things had they been asked. In fact, according to many we talk with, they
have usually tried to pass on those messages, but no one was listening.
Companies could improve the level of commitment of their workforce, get
excellent ideas for improvement, and save a good deal of money if they
would seek answers from their own people. Not doing so is a fatal flaw
of leadership.
Many of us have worked for leaders whose automatic response to every idea
or suggestion was a negative one. One company describes these people as
their “abominable ‘no’ men.” It is impossible to calculate the damage such a
person does inside an organization, measured either in the number of good
ideas that get permanently squelched or by the number of talented people
who permanently exit the organization, completely turned off by this leader’s
behavior.
The one thing worse than a leader who constantly says “No” is the leader
who pretends to listen and then does nothing about it. Pretending to listen
raises the hopes of the employee, and these hopes are dashed when no action
is taken. Leaders are often beset by twin demons—arrogance and compla-
cency. The belief that your ideas are superior to everyone else’s is an ultimate
expression of arrogance. Unwillingness to listen to others’ ideas and experi-
ment with them is a further expression of arrogance. These leaders feel threat-
ened by good ideas coming from others. Maybe they grew up with the
mistaken assumption that because you have a formal title or role as the man-
ager or director, it means you should have answers to all problems and that
ideas for changes should all emanate from you.
Ralph was a senior executive in the research division of a semiconductor
company. When anyone had an idea that was revolutionary or outside the
normal way of doing things, they would go see Ralph. We asked why he
thought that was the case, and he was exceedingly clear about the reasons. “I
don’t ever discourage a new idea. Ideas are tender and need to be nourished.
So I ask lots of questions and give the person encouragement to pursue it,
unless I’m positive it won’t work. If I have the slightest belief it could succeed,
I am enthusiastic about it. Over the years, that’s paid off in some remarkable
advancements.”