SIMPLICITY OF LEADERSHIP: THE “LOGGER” LEADER

[This is an article I wrote in December of 2006. Wondering how true my claims are 5 years on]

INTRODUCTION:

Leadership is fast becoming the most discussed management issue in the political and corporate governance sectors of the world’s economy; gaining a wider and wider listening-audience over time. However, as much as leadership is being talked about, there seems to be insufficient solutions or principles which when practiced, assures of effective leadership for “whosoever” holds a leadership position: these wide principles of leadership work for some individuals and do not work for others.

In my view, leadership surpasses a set of guidelines or principles; it rather requires a particular personality which can only be built over time by the difficult art of Personal Leadership. It could require an entire reconstruction of one’s personality, attitude to life and set of beliefs about people and their potentials.

This article looks at leadership from a common, yet uncommon, view. It looks at the role of a leader as the team-member who does not necessarily need to have the highest number of the competences required to achieve team goals but must have that single and needful competence -“leadership”- the ultimate guarantee for team success.

As the first article of the Virtual Leadership Series, it is necessary to state here that the views expressed in this article are applicable to both Physical and Virtual Leadership styles. Subsequent articles will however dwell more on issues peculiar to Leadership in a Virtual Environment.

LEADERSHIP RE-DEFINED

Numerous highly skilled leadership experts have defined and explained leadership using various approaches. Nonetheless, for the purpose of this article, I will define leadership in my own words which expresses my personal prior experience of leadership.

“Leadership is the ability to give what you don’t have, produce what you don’t possess, and succeed where you don’t have the expertise, all because you’ve learnt to effectively manage the “better” talents at your disposal” -Tobi Odunowo

Note the words: “better” talents! Many people in leadership positions feel threatened when they identify a more knowledgeable team-member in an area of speciality - such people could be said to be locked-in to a “leader’s-ship” practice rather than the real practice of leadership.

“LEADER’S-SHIP” OR LEADERSHIP:

“Leader’s-ship” occurs in a situation where the team-leader works under the assumption that “the buck stops with him/her”. Such leaders try to become the central point of the team but without the needful purpose of sharing or being generous with the decision-making power they possess as the “number-one”. This type of leader-attitude drives team-members to a state where they do not see their team responsibilities as their own work, but rather see it as the leader’s work (don’t be startled when you hear employees say “I’m going to the office to do Mr. Boss’ job!”).

People holding leadership positions should see themselves as a “Logger-Leader”- a leader who centralizes himself, not as the focal point of the team’s decision-making process and success-determinants, but as a facilitator and constant communicator of the team’s vision; the “hidden-force” that makes team-members to see team-goals as the drivers of their personal goals; and the one who doesn’t necessarily need to have the best skills but has the unique ability to place and utilize the available skills in each team member; someone who believes that the buck rather stops with “us”-the entire team!- that is Leadership!

ILLUSTRATING LEADERSHIP: HERDS-MAN AND LOGGER’S APPROACH

The Herd’s-Man Leader

Thinking back at school-days whilst studying at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria, I had the privilege of learning about the nomadic herds-men who do not have homes but perpetually travel across the Sahara looking for pasture for their followers- the herds of cattle, to graze on. Remember, these cattle leaders have a goal- to find pasture for their cattle.

Let’s take a look at the styles and trend of leadership and “followership” as shown by the herds-man and his herds of cattle.

The herd’s-man is the leader of the team:

-         He tells them what to do and where to go at every point in time

• -         They always wait and look-up to him for instructions, they are not allowed to use their own initiative, the buck stops with the herds-man: their leader
• -      They have an idea of what the team-goal is (getting pasture) but it is only the leader that tells them how to get to the goal (the particular pasture where they will graze), they don’t think of a best approach to achieving that goal; decisions lie with the “boss”
• -       The team doesn’t have a defined goal- they look for pasture wherever they can find it; no definite destination, no periodic evaluations, it’s simply a visionless venture; an endless voyage.
• -         The leader leads and the herds of cattle have to follow; they don’t know exactly where they are going, and so they cannot plan nor do they require any special strategy. They just have to follow the leader!

The “Logger”- Leader

I also remember learning in school, from one of the courses on “Forestry”, about

Loggers living in riverine areas who fell trees at one side of the river and transport the felled logs to the other side of the river using the course of water-flow. The team-goal here is to move the felled logs to the other side of the river- but it is not just a vague goal, it is defined- the other side of the river refers to a particular “well-known” place which has only been seen by the leader – it is the leader’s vision that is ready to become the team’s shared-vision. The Logger is the leader and the felled logs are the followers.

Taking a closer look at the leadership style and trend of leadership and “followership” as displayed by the Logger and his logs, one begins to note that:

• -         The leader starts by arranging the logs in a way that is compactable with the water-flow; this requires that he fits the log in a position where they can display their in-built potential. Large logs have their place; small logs have their place; he also needs to consider the weight of the logs. In simple terms, he identifies the potentials of each log and keeps them where they fit: he realizes the fact that this part of the task could make or mar the achievement of his team-goal of getting all the logs to the other side of the river. We can describe this exercise as: “Strategic Selection and Placement: Right Peg in the Right Hole”
• 
  
•        His next task is to watch the course of the water-flow and identify how they (he and the logs) must trail the course in other to get to their destination (team goal)  This stage could be described as “Team-Goal Setting and Systems & Process Definition”. We also need to note that the water-flow may change at any point in time thus it is required of the leader and his/her team to be responsive and flexible enough to use the changes in water-flow to their advantage if they must remain on course in achieving the team goal. These types of leaders are not “systems-rigid”! (they are systems-fluid)
• 
  
• -    At this stage, 80% of the task is done! The systems and processes have been set in place; team-goal defined. The leader takes a back-rest and watches his logs transport them (he and the logs- the entire team) to the other side of the river (team-goal).
• 
  
• -         However, that is not the end of his task. There could be a log-jam! But the Logger is skilled well enough to know the log that caused the jam. He simply repositions the log and the flow continues.

Isn’t it so simple to be a leader? Simple to be a “Logger”-Leader!

COMPONENTS OF LEADERSHIP

Permit me to give another Agriculture-biased illustration. For my Bachelor Thesis, I worked on the project topic: “Effects of Selected Cover-Crops in Hoe-Mechanized Maize Plantation”. This afforded me the opportunity to inter-crop different types of legumes (mostly cover-crops) with maize whilst observing their diverse ability to add nutrients to the soil as well as prevent weed emergence through the canopy formed on the top-soil.

This perfectly illustrates the four factors that I consider as the main components of effective leadership. The first three represent the different crop-seeds: maize (main crop), legume (nutrient “generator”) and the cover-crop (weed controller). The last component represents the soil (the foundation on which team-goals will or will not thrive). All of these work hand-in-hand in ensuring optimal crop performance and productivity; and in this case, optimal team performance and productivity.

Component 1: The Team Vision & Strategy- (main crop seed)

The Team Vision and Strategy are the major drivers of the team. They are those goals that the team commits themselves to achieving. It is only when the Vision and Strategy are fulfilled that the fruits of the team’s success are seen by the outside world. A well-defined Vision and Strategy partially guarantees team success- “when we know where we are going and how to get there, the problem is half-solved”.

Component 2: Talent Utilization within Team-(leguminous crop seed)

A major characteristic of a good legume is that it adds nitrogen to the soil, thereby increasing the nutritive value of the soil. Leaders need to realize that the more they utilize the talents and expertise of team-members (especially those talents and expertise that they personally don’t have) the more they develop themselves through re-learning and subsequently team members are developed. It is important to allow all your team-members shine- when they shine, your team shines and when your team shines, you shine. Remember that the team is always called by the name of the leader- (e.g. “Mr. Brittle’s Team”).

Component 3: Leader’s Generosity with Power- (cover-crop seed)

Every individual loves to be the top-, if not sole-, decision maker. As the traditional management system seems to portray, the leader can step into this privilege as the sole-owner of all team decision-making powers. However, the modern model leader should learn to share his/her power to ensure that a good team environment is retained.

When, as a leader, you allow your team-members to have asses to decision making process, this gesture kills the “weeds” of complacency that usually arise from feelings of “not-being-among”; it kills the “weeds” of distrust and fosters team growth and productivity.

Component 4: Personality of a the Leader- (soil)

This is the last but obviously not the least component of leadership- the leader’s personality. As earlier stated, ideal leadership is not achieved through adherence to a set of principles but rather through the development of a personality that produces the “leadership competence”-a unique ability to be a leader, no matter what position you occupy!

A careful look at the illustrator- the soil, shows some characteristics that drips from an ideal leader. The soil is sacrificial in nature- it owns all the nutrients, water and air that the three other components need to stay alive. However, the soil is never reluctant to give it all up. A leader gives up the knowledge, power, time, exemplary life and all it takes to keep the team motivated. As the soil is the most unnoticed component in this illustration (the other components can be easily seen because they are above ground-level), a true leader is always ready to go unnoticed. He/she puts team first and the-self last!

This unique personality is not a natural attribute that every human is born with; some people have to re-construct their personality through Personal Leadership, to become that Ideal Leader! - “The “Logger”- Leader”- that is why some are born leaders while others are made-leaders!

Author: Tobi Odunowo

Tobi Odunowo holds a Bachelor of Agric. from the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria and is a Global Internet Member of the Society of Human Resource Management. He has had prior experience in leading global virtual teams whilst working for AIESEC International- world’s widest networked leadership development and exchange organisation. He’s also got experience in Change Management as a Consultant with The Capital Group, Ghana- a leading indigenous consultancy specialising in HR Services, Management Training and Financial Advisory Services. Tobi has a flair for Virtual Leadership and Strategic Management and is currently nursing a virtual consultancy initiative.