Transition.
‘How did it go?'
Her face was flushed and sweaty after her first day of leading tour groups around New Norcia.
‘Good. No - Excellent. Well, nervous at first. And I nearly lost it at one stage.
'I was walking along with fifteen people behind me and I turned to ask Belinda something. And then I realised that Belinda wasn’t there anymore. It was just me.
'I looked back and saw all those people following me. Me! I started to freak. It hit me that I was It. I’d never thought about what it would be like until then. My stomach started churning and I just wanted to run. I suddenly felt all this responsibility. It happened in a rush.’
‘You obviously didn’t run.’
‘No. I looked over my shoulder and saw that they were all still following behind me. So I just kept walking. Kept leading them to the next stop on the tour. And then the next one after that.
About halfway through I began to relax. I realised that I just had to keep walking and that they would follow me. I know the town history and they wanted to hear about it. I almost started laughing at one point because I knew that I could go anywhere and say anything and that they would follow and listen and nod. Scary to think what I could have done without them knowing any different and anyone to tell them otherwise.
'By the end, I was enjoying it.'
True Leaders - not PowerPoint ones - you remember the feeling of transition.
The churning stomach. The weight of other people's decision making loading upon your shoulders like discarded rifles surrendered by a defeated army.
The sound of a serious stranger's voice coming from your mouth with your Father's words, or a teacher's, or a book, or a movie - from somewhere but not from your heart.
That first decision that you made to lead those people somewhere that you eventually learned - or are still learning - is leading you back to yourself.
Leaders are brave.
Disengaged.
The Gallup organisation recently released a report that 87% of workers in the world are either not engaged or actively disengaged from their work.
In Australia, the percentage of engaged workers is a little higher at 24%. Yippee.
Only 19% of Australian bosses are engaged in their jobs. An interesting form of leadership - 'Follow me and be disengaged!'
(If you're someone's boss reading this and you're thinking 'Meh...', then it's likely you're one of the 81%.)
Gallup estimates that disengaged workers cost Australia $54.8 Billion a year. That's almost double the Education budget.
Think about that.
It's breathtakingly remarkable.
Each day in Australia, three out of four people:
Sit in traffic.
Pull their chairs up to their keyboards.
Occupy that space.
Briefly vacate it to sing 'Happy Birthday Miriam' alongside mostly other disengaged workers in the staff room and despite a 75% chance that Miriam didn't care.
Perhaps have a meeting with three out of four other disengaged workers to report to a boss who's probably not interested.
Sit in traffic.
Grow older.
Repeat. 251 times a year. For half a century.
What to do?
Engagement begins with the act of decision making.
When we make good decisions, we declare who and where we are.
We nail our colours to the mast.
We reveal ourselves.
We connect with other workers, our boss, customers, critics, with the organisation and its Widget.
We invite, demand, call on them to do the same.
Bosses - give your workers Widget clarity, authentic support, trust and affirmation and delegate decisions to the lowest appropriate level. Teach them about how to make a good decision and model it yourself.
Back them even when there's a mistake. Back them in front of your boss. Back them when someone complains.
Most of all, back yourself to have the courage and leadership to trust your workers.
This act of bravery alone will scare you into engagement with them.
Workers - make good decisions. Don't wait for permission - just make them methodically and learn from it. Your fear will surely engage you with your boss in what happens next.
We must stand up on our desks and shout 'O Captain, My Captain!'
Different.
The Leader creates Space.
A manager patrols it.
The Leader defines Purpose.
A manager measures it.
The Leader Equips.
A manager maintains.
The Leader Affirms.
A manager reviews.
The Leader Retreats.
A manager remains behind.