“Learn to trust what is happening. If there is silence, let it grow: something will emerge. If there is storm, let it rage; it will resolve into calm.” (The Tao of Leadership)
Many of us like to produce results and get things done. Often this is why we have come to be leaders or have moved into managerial positions. Producing results gives us a sense of satisfaction and achievement. That is, after all, what we get paid for and what we are there to do!
I am such a person, too. I like to get things done and …with a lot of speed. If things are not happening, I often get a sense of impatience and paralysis. When I was working in Ghana, I came to realize how action focused I was. I would sit in meetings with my mind centred on actions we needed to agree on by the end of the meeting. Lengthy discussions tended to bore me. One day when I was sitting in a meeting with one of our partners and other stakeholders, a consultant made me aware that I was literally driving the meeting with my urge to put down an action plan, whilst the other parties were much more interested in discussing the issues and in expressing their views. This was the first time I became fully aware of my behaviour pattern. Since then I have been able to transform this in the context of the OD and leadership work I do. But it is often still a default setting for the way I engage with processes.
When we get things done we feel we are producing something. Often this urge to move forward and achieve results is accompanied by a need to control a situation or group in order to ensure that things are happening and are happening to the standard we believe in. It may be accompanied by the urge to control not just the outcome but also the process, wanting things to be done in line with our way of doing things.
In the process we may suffocate other people’s space and take too much control, since we are too invested in a particular outcome. It may be appropriate for certain situations where we have deadlines but it may not be appropriate for other situations. In such situations we may not provide sufficient space for ideas and issues to emerge which could be more important than rushing into action. When we rush into action, the direction we take may be wrong or the action may not be owned. Like all competencies getting things done is a competence that carries a price. When we overuse it, we may stop being effective in certain situations.
As leaders it is an important to know when we need to push for action and when we need to let go, giving others full control over what they are doing and letting them be in the driving seat. In an adapted version of the Tao Te Ching, the famous Chinese book of wisdom, we can read some insights about the importance for a leader to let others be in charge: “The leaders know that constant interventions block the group’s process. The leader does not insist that things come out in a certain way.” … and “The wise leader does not intervene unnecessarily. The leader’s presence is felt, but often the group runs itself. …Remember that you are facilitating another person’s process. It is not your process. Do not intrude. Do not control. Do not force your own needs and insights into the foreground.” (Heider, 1985, P. 3 and P.33)
Trusting a process and trusting other people’s resourcefulness is an important competence, for leaders and for people in general. There are moments where we need to drive action but there are many more moments where we simply need to let go of control, providing space for things to unfold. When we do not push the river, the river often flows a lot more smoothly, it carries all of us and new things may emerge at the river’s bank…
Reference: Heider, J. (1985). The Tao of Leadership, Lake Worth, FL: Humanics New Age
Heidrun Kippenberger