"Leaders and followers are roped together"
Column 2 on Max De Pree's Leadership Jazz
September
Leaders and followers are roped together.
I like to climb mountains. For 30 years I have belonged to a group of seven men who climb mountains and explore wilderness together. With three decades of mountain climbing paralleling my organizational leadership roles, I find the mountaineering rope a powerful metaphor for the relationship between leaders and followers – the connections among members of a team. I recently wrote a book developing this metaphor: Don’t Step on the Rope! Reflections on Leadership, Relationships and Teamwork. When we come together to climb a mountain we tie into a common rope. Leader and follower share the same rope. We are dependent upon one another. The rope makes this visible. The leader goes nowhere unless the followers choose to go. The rope reveals the commitments we make to one another – the promises that connect and define leaders and followers. This is what Max De Pree is getting at in Leadership Jazz.
To whom are you roped?
Who is on your team? With whom do you work? Whose lead are you following? Who is looking to you for leadership? The climbing rope provides a powerful image of the relational connections that define our organizational lives. We work together, mutually dependent upon one another, to accomplish the mission or purpose of our group. The rope links each person’s success and failure to the passions, fears, strengths and weaknesses of the others. Climbers tied into a rope significantly enhance their safety and success; they also increase their risk. Whatever we do, we do together. Leadership is relational. We cannot do it alone. Your success as a leader (and a follower) is tied to those with whom you work.
Why should anyone clip into your rope?
Why should someone choose to follow you? Why should someone trust you enough to risk tying to your rope? Once again the rope makes the relationship visible. There is benefit in working together; there is also risk when we tie our outcomes to another’s strengths and weaknesses. Why should someone follow your lead? In mountaineering we use a carabineer. This oval shaped metal clip allows climbers to connect themselves to the common rope. It is a choice to clip into a rope shared with others, whether you are leader or follower. As Max De Pree puts it, we choose to work together. We are all volunteers. No one has to follow your lead. They choose to do so. And they choose to follow because they trust who you are – the integrity of your character – the alignment of your voice and your touch. In Leadership Jazz, Max talks about beliefs and values and priorities. The character of the leader determines the credibility of the leadership – the trustworthiness of the rope. When your words and your actions reflect clearly the beliefs and values that frame your leadership, people can decide whether or not to follow. Followers deserve a clear statement of what is important to you and to your organization.
What makes you a leader?
Followers. It’s that simple. Unless someone chooses to follow we are not leading. Max De Pree encourages us to think more about followership, since followers ultimately determine the success of leaders. Leadership always rests in the hands of the followers, which reminds us again that it is always about choice. Someone must choose to accept our influence if we are to lead. Leadership is a relationship of influence and service. It promises a future and offers hope. When someone believes your promise and chooses to follow you toward that future, you are leading. Leadership is about character, integrity, influence and choice. It is a promise between leaders and followers.
What are you promising when you tie in?
When we join a team of climbers, an office of colleagues, what promises do we make when we rope ourselves together? I think there are several promises implied when the carabineer locks onto the rope:
To follow. Climbers and leaders lead and follow. In another column we will talk about delegation. Delegation is the gracious sharing of leadership. It is a statement of faith – a willingness to follow another’s lead. Good leaders follow as much as they lead.
To act with integrity. If we are going to tie our success to the efforts of others we need to know who is on the rope – their beliefs, values and priorities -- and expect them to act consistently with integrity.
To know what is important. We tie our future to people when we know what they believe, what they consider important and how they will make decisions.
To know where you are going. Max De Pree says that the first responsibility of leadership is to define reality, to point the direction. Effective leaders promise a future and clear strategies with which to participate.
To be accountable for results. Leadership has purpose. We rope together to accomplish specific objectives, shared visions. Leadership promises to hold us accountable for our progress together.
To care about the rope – not the leader. Leadership is a relationship of influence. It is not a position or a person. Effective leaders tend the rope – nurturing the relationships that define the team. Leadership is never about the leader. It is always about the shared vision and the people who share the rope.
To keep your skills sharp. Every person on the rope contributes to the success of the climb. A climber who is not in condition is dangerous. A team member who is not learning and growing in skills to contribute is a liability. Renewal and growth are necessary for the health of the team.
Leadership is a promise that flows from integrity – the alignment of voice and touch.
“Leaders remain responsible, perhaps more so than anyone else, for making the future promising and making promises for the future.” (Max De Pree, Leadership Jazz, p. 32)
Questions for reflection:
To whom are you roped? |
For whose success are you responsible? |
What do you believe? |
How do your core beliefs shape your leading and following? |
What are you promising? |
Who is listening? |
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