Much has been written to support the notion that Influence is not only practiced by those at the top of an organization, but is also useful tool anywhere within the organization to get things done, to change minds, to focus resources, - to lead up. Business experts, management consultants and coaches frequently write and teach strategies for effectively leading from below.

I would like to take this conversation one step further and ask:

What is your role as an Executive, a CEO, a Leader, in supporting upward leadership and enabling intelligence to trickle up the organizational chart?

Most leaders probably do not set out to intentionally block subordinates upward communication, but who has time to contemplate ways to ‘help them help you?’ We are not talking about internal leadership development, which aims to recognize future downward leaders, but something entirely different; fostering leadership that many managers and employees see as…

It doesn’t have to be impossible.

As a top level leader, you can do much to break down the common barriers that do exist - most of which are so ingrained in personality and culture as to be nearly invisible. Lets bring a few of them into the light.

Consider some of the following pesky barriers that may be creating distance between you and one of the best sources of relevant, powerful information in your organization.

Buried in a Bureaucratic Thicket

One of the paradoxes of an increasingly specialized bureaucratized society is that the qualities rewarded in the rise to eminence are less and less the qualities required once eminence is reached.” Henry Kissenger

A bureaucratic style of leadership that emphasizes procedures and historical methods has its place and can literally save lives. However, when problems are solved by adding layers of control, those layers add distance between the leader and the information - feedback and new ideas that could save the organization.

Executive Coaching Questions:

1. What have you done to evaluate the impact that procedural restrictions have on the flow of information from those in your organization that have it to those that need it?
2. Are there any outdated or unnecessary bureaucratic barriers constricting the flow of valuable information upwards and even horizontally - between departments, among peers, or even from customers and vendors?
3. How can you find out? What can you change?

Aloof in a C-level cloud

Taken too far, the advice of Jeffery Fox, in his book How to Become CEO, can become permanent leadership behaviors that lift you up, up and away from conversation going on at ground level. Fox recommends, for example, that to become CEO you should not “have a drink with the gang” and that you should try to “skip all the office parties.” This strategic coolness may work for getting to the top floor, however, it can easily solidify into a long, chilly, marble hallway between the C-suite and the executive receptionist - where underlings dare not tread.

In this respect we can learn from Japanese management philosophy which tends to emphasize the importance of a Leader’s accessibility and the contribution of everyone toward incremental growth.

Just outside of Dallas, in Irving, TX, Jeff Kane became CEO of NEC Unified Solutions Inc, owned by the Japanese parent company, NEC Corp. Mr. Kane’s evolution from Senior Vice President of Sales to CEO was profiled in the Dallas Morning news in 2007. The article relates the leadership qualities that Kane believes have made this transition a success:

It would be foolhardy for Mr. Kane to hide the fact that he’s new to the company and industry. So he doesn’t pretend. Instead he asks questions – in private meetings with management, at trade shows and even during sales presentations – and listens to what people say.

“The questions let people know that he’s interested; the answers give Mr. Kane the information he needs to better perform his job.

“Mr. Kane makes himself totally accessible. He wants any idea – from mild to wild – that will improve the company.” (Pauline Graivier and Rob Hoffman, “New CEO Learns Territory Quickly,” Dallas Morning News, Sunday, August 19, 2007)

Executive Coaching Questions:

1. What is the state of your physical availability to your employees? What do they have to do to share an idea with you? Do they see you regularly? Can they email you directly?
2. What can you do to create more frequent opportunities for feedback and questions?

Surrounded by a Mote of Intolerance

In addition to lack of accessibility or positive interaction, distance could be the perception of an intolerance for mistakes, contradiction. Managers may be afraid to stick their neck out for fear that it may turn out to be a career ending move.

Carmine Coyote, founder and editor of Slowleadership.org, in a recent article entitled The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Leaders, suggests seven leadership mistakes that lead to our current “economic mess.” Number two on his list:

Questioning was strongly discouraged. Disagreement became a reason for career death or dismissal. Whistle-blowers were first muzzled, then sacked, then persecuted. The atmosphere on the executive floor tended, in most cases, to be more like the palace of a tin-pot dictator than somewhere people worked together to find the best strategies for shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers. Intolerance of criticism should be another instant killer of leadership ambitions.”

If our metaphorical mote was dug by intolerance for hearing about their own mistakes, leaders next filled the mote with intolerance for the risks and mistakes of those below them.

…treat well managed risk as tolerable and understandable mistakes as informative, you’ll build a capacity below for those to lead up and one day move up.” (Micael Useem, “Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win”, New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001, 178)

Executive Coaching Questions

1. When is the last time any one on your team, or any of your direct reports contradicted you, questioned your suggestions, or simply offered a contrasting opinion?
2. When was the last time you tolerated a ‘well managed risk’ from below and gained some valuable lesson? If it was more than 3 months ago, why?
3. If you don’t have enough of this kind of feedback, what can you do to change that?

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Creating Collaboration and innovation involves an intentional process whereby the environment and culture for collaboration and innovation is created and nurtured. This process respects, honors, affirms and encourages partnership and teamwork. It identifies challenges and sets the ground rules, tears down boundaries, fosters relationships, builds trust and shares everything, including responsibility. And then it develops an attitude of anticipation for the collective and creative future. These competencies will shift individuals and organizations from the ordinary to the extraordinary.”

(from my book, “Legacy Leadership”)

Coming Soon…leading from below - the decision to be a leader wherever you are in the organization…