Phases of Leadership Development
In my experience there are five basic phases in the process of leadership development. All leaders (youth and adult) pass through these phases – nobody skips a phase, nor do we want to. Each is indispensable to the process. As I was discussing plans for the next few months with our senior patrol leader (he’s at the halfway point of his term).
I got the impression that he had entered the ‘Heroism’ phase of leadership development.
I know what phase comes next and I am watching for it.
Knowing the Ropes - An idiom with origins in sailing ships controlled by a network of ropes. Old salts understood how to use this network to control the sails – they ‘knew the ropes’. Like a newly recruited sailor new leaders have to learn the ropes to steer the ship. Once a leader learns these basics they are headed for;
The Big Letdown - We discover that people are fallible and plans are fragile. We learn there are few people you can count on all the time, some people you can count on some of the time and some people who can’t be counted on at all. We also realize our most carefully laid plans are really just a house of cards – when circumstances change the plans can collapse. This big letdown is a crucial if unpleasant realization – especially to a relatively innocent, inexperienced young person. A leader’s future effectiveness hinges on how quickly they get past:
Heroism - Since people are fallible and plans are fragile the new leader concludes that it is easier just to do everything themselves and to control as many variables as possible. They cannot trust others to do things properly, it’s easier to do it all than to take the time to train someone else, and they are really the only ones who understand how things work. They are going to be the hero. Some leaders spend their entire tenure without progressing past this phase. They may be quite capable and energetic.
Heroic leaders are often great showmen – their meetings sparkle and their activities are top drawer – but in the end it’s more a show presented for people than people doing for themselves.
Inevitably an individual’s finite capacity to carry all of the responsibility and do all of the work leads to;
- Burnout - A heroic leader eventually becomes a victim of their own heroism. They feel like no one really appreciates how much they do, no one really understands how much time they spend, and they don’t get the support or reaction they feel they ought to get. They complain; “Why am I doing all this for people who just don’t appreciate my effort?”. If a mentor recognizes when a leader hits ‘The Big Letdown’ they can sometimes shorten the heroism phase and the inevitable burnout.
Almost without exception we have to experience the heroism and burnout phases before we understand that we simply cannot do everything . When they burn out some leaders simply have no energy left. They give up, they quit, they walk away.
Others get over the discouragement and realize that their work is not doing things for people but enabling people to do things for themselves . They resolve to change; they stop doing everything and start conducting, orchestrating, developing, renewing the vision, observing and reflecting. Such a fundamental change is a huge challenge. If we survive this struggle we progress to;
- Professionalism - A professional, or a professor, does not equate their own sense of self-worth and accomplishment with immediate results.
Professionals have developed a broader view that strengthens tolerance for adversity and uncertainty with plans and people.
Professionals value experience above skill. They leverage their experiences in the first phases of leadership to avoid the most common mistakes and weed out shortsighted solutions for measures that work in the long-term.
Because experience comes from action professionals value the process above the results. They see results, good or bad, not as a measure of their character or ability but a natural part of the process of moving forward: they stop fearing failure. When we don’t fear failure we develop clarity and decisiveness.
Clarity helps us balance fearlessness and caution – it strengthens our judgement. We develop resolve and vision; we learn that the best leaders are not heroes but servants that inspire people and make it possible to do things for themselves. UPDATE Don’t use these five phases to instruct new leaders – they won’t understand them until they experience them.
Trying to tell someone what they are about to experience does not help them (unless they are about to experience an injury!). Let them have the experience first and then use the knowledge you have to help them reflect on it, internalize it and move on towards the next step of development.