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Goldilocks, Porcupines, And Chameleons, Part 3: The Chameleon Leader

Mark McCloskey — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 14:53:14 +0000

Now that we have discussed “The Goldilocks Zone” (the “just right” leadership relationship of effective leaders, and porcupine leaders (prickly, unapproachable, defensive leaders), we are finally able to reveal the chameleon leader. You may remember our earlier discussions on leadership in relation to outer rings and inner cores. Our inner core is home to an unchanging set of

timeless priceless,

core beliefs,

enduring values,

deep convictions

and non-negotiable commitments,

and the outer ring is more fluid, able to adapt to new situations. A wise leader exercises wisdom and discernment in the process of leading effectively through their inner core and outer ring. But what happens when a leader’s outer ring dominates the inner core? You guessed it. This result is the chameleon leader.

The chameleon.

The chameleon is a small lizard. About half of the eighty-nine species of chameleons live in Madagascar, with the rest living in sub-Saharan Africa. Of course the chameleon is best known for its vivid and dramatic changes of color. While chameleons can’t display a limitless range of colors, they do exhibit a wide range of color displays, including green, blue, yellow, brown, red, black or white. Contrary to popular notions, the chameleon does not change color in response to its immediate surroundings. Rather, its color changes are evoked by stimuli such as levels of light, variations in temperature and even variations in the chameleon’s mood and emotion—yes, I guess lizards have emotions, too. For instance, a calm chameleon may exhibit green. An angry chameleon may exhibit yellow. Color changes also communicate important information from chameleon to chameleon, such as, “I’m in the mood to mate.”

The chameleon leader.

When we refer to someone as a chameleon, we are not applauding the individual for his or her ability to constructively adapt to changing situations. Rather, when we refer to a chameleon leader, we mean that they are a person who is:

inconsistent
able to quickly adjust his attitudes and behaviors to reflect the current situation
changing at the expense of his own beliefs
making decisions at the expense of his own values
does not follow his own convictions, or may not have convictions

We mean that they are flexible to a fault and make inappropriate accommodations to the people and circumstances around them.

Of course, this is not a compliment—no offense to the chameleon.

What is going on here?

The chameleon leader possesses an outer ring so large and dominant that it swallows up their inner core resulting in an “integrity gap.”

What the chameleon says and does, what he or she highlights, emphasizes, even believes and holds dear yesterday might be different from today and tomorrow. What is the rationale for these adjustments? Since the people or situation has changed and is constantly changing, so reasons the chameleon, so should their response. According to the chameleon, they are simply making a constructive attempt to stay connected and relevant to a changing world and the people in it.

If we didn’t know better, we might think the chameleon is a wise and discerning person.

This would be a fitting description if, and if is the operative word, the chameleon’s flexible response to the necessities of the moment remained vitally connected to his or her inner core, such that their attitudes, decisions and actions were a timely application of timeless principles, a contextualized expression of a core value. In fact, the chameleon’s repertoire of responses is not shaped or informed by their inner core, but by the shifting demands of the context, the exigencies of a given situation, or at times, perhaps the expectations of others. The chameleon response is not an “effective flexibility” born of wisdom and insight. In some cases, the chameleon’s seemingly apt response to changing circumstance is an expression of expedience, as in “It’s just the easy thing to do given the givens.” In other cases the chameleon may be motivated by the expectations of others, reasoning, “I have to go along to get along.” And in some cases, the chameleon just wants to reserve the right to change his or her mind.

Either way, the chameleon’s outer ring has taken on a life of its own shaped exclusively by context not conviction, and functions—or should we say, malfunctions—without reference to timeless principles or enduring values.

Check back with us as we finish our series on Goldilocks, Porcupines and Chameleons.

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Power Of Priority Series: The Most Precious Of Organizational Resources

Mark McCloskey — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:20:02 +0000

A leader’s attention is a precious commodity, perhaps the most valuable of organizational resources.

Others compete for it and seek to direct it. Enormous quantities of information flow across a leader’s desk. Changes in the external operating environment—emerging opportunities and threats—vie for a leader’s time and energy. Leaders must decide what gets their attention among these many possible claimants.

A leader’s effectiveness is a matter of what gets their attention—what’s on their “radar screen.” A leader can focus this most precious of organizational resources on matters of vital necessity, or allow it to be diffused and overwhelmed in a sea of random stimuli, inconsequential minutia, or the merely novel and interesting—remember Gallienus.

Researcher and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi notes the enormous importance of being able to focus and discipline our mental energy and attention. I quote from his book, Flow.

At this point in our scientific knowledge we are on the verge of being able to estimate how much information the central nervous system is capable of processing. It seems we can manage at most seven bits of information—such as differentiated sounds, or visual stimuli, or recognizable nuances of emotion or thought—at any one time, and that the shortest time it takes to discriminate between one set of bits and another is about 1/18 of a second. By using these figures one concludes that it is possible to process at most 126 bits of information per second, or 7,560 per minute, or almost half a million per hour. Over a lifetime of seventy years, and counting sixteen hours of waking time each day, this amounts to about 185 billion bits of information. It is out of this total that everything in our life must come—every thought, memory, feeling, or action. It seems like a huge amount, but in reality it does not go that far.”

It is also out of this total that everything in one’s leadership must come. Consequently, the difference between focused and unfocused, disciplined and undisciplined passion is enormous. Passion does not automatically translate into progress over time.

Passion must be shaped by a keen sense of priorities if it is to benefit the leader and organization each day and over the decades.

Nineteenth century American philosopher and psychologist William James observed,

What leaders pay attention to sends the organization a powerful message as to what is essential and what is expendable, what is central and what is peripheral, what is non-negotiable and what is optional, what must be invested in and what can go lacking.

Consequently, what commands a leader’s attention repeatedly, what he or she is consistently engaged in doing is a matter of utmost importance.

Leaders must stay vitally engaged with issues of vital importance to the welfare and progress of the organization. Toward this end, the Roles as depicted in the 4R Model of Leadership are helpful in organizing and regulating a leader’s attention. Each Role highlights those aspects of organizational life, the activities, interactions and processes, important enough to merit not only the leader’s attention, but also the investment of the organization’s resources.

(You can learn more about the Roles of a leader in The Art of Virtue Based Transformational Leadership, available on this website.)

The Roles category of the 4R Model highlights four vital areas of organizational life that demand a leader’s attention.

1. The Direction Setter Role deals with clarifying the organization’s directional imperatives, its purpose, and mission and core values. Leaders must pay attention to the overall direction of the organization and regularly evaluate if every aspect of organizational life serves these imperatives.

2.The Change Agent Role deals with learning what the organization must learn to keep its promises to the world. Leaders must pay attention to the quality and progress of the organization’s learning agenda.

3.The Coach Role deals with the challenge of identifying and developing the human talent to insure the long-term welfare and progress of the organization. Leaders must pay close attention to the development of new leaders to insure the organization has sufficient human resources to keep its promises to the world into the indefinite future.

4. The Ambassador Role deals with engaging with those the organization intends to benefit. Leaders must pay close attention to those the organization intends to serve, and evaluate whether the organization is indeed benefiting them.

What a leader pays attention to, and how intensely and how long he or she pays attention to it determines the effectiveness of his or her leadership.

What has your attention today?

What is on your radar screen this month?

About the Author: Mark McCloskey

Mark is a graduate of Miami University (BA) and Bethel Seminary, Minnesota (MDiv). He earned his PhD at the University of South Florida in the College of Education, Department of Leadership Development. His focus of study was organizational leadership, adult education, and research and measurement.

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Passion Series: A Leader’s Most Valuable Asset

Mark McCloskey — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:42:32 +0000

Passion born of noble purpose is the first quality of the leader, the primal source of sustained, effective leadership.

The Global Leadership Forecast 2011 identifies passion as a key measure of leadership effectiveness. The term is used to describe leaders who are committed to and enjoy their leadership roles for the right reasons, and who work hard to help the company, team and each individual succeed. While I am glad they list passion as a leadership prerequisite, I don’t think they have done justice to the term (see previous two blogs). Passion—the kind grounded in noble, higher purpose—is not just one of many important leadership qualities. It is, I believe, fundamental, necessary and primary to effective leadership. Here’s why. The Global Leadership Forecast 2011 identifies passion as a key measure of leadership effectiveness.

The term is used to describe leaders who are committed to and enjoy their leadership roles for the right reasons, and who work hard to help the company, team and each individual succeed. While I am glad they list passion as a leadership prerequisite, I don’t think they have done justice to the term (see previous two blogs). Passion—the kind grounded in noble, higher purpose—is not just one of many important leadership qualities. It is, I believe, fundamental, necessary and primary to effective leadership. Here’s why

The first obligation of the leader is to identify and sustain his or her passion. Russian Poet Boris Pasternak put it well in verse.

It’s not revolutions and upheavals that clear the road to new and better days…but someone’s soul inspired and ablaze.”

Twentieth century American clergyman Kenneth Hildebrand stated it in eloquent prose.

Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes; lesser ones exist on wishes and inclinations. The most glowing successes are but reflections of an inner fire.”

As the organization stands in the gap between the promise of a better tomorrow and the harsh realities of today, as they face down insurmountable obstacles, as they take on mountains of need, as they consider the cost of sacrificial service, members will not ask their leaders what interests them, or what they prefer to do.

The first question posed to the leader during the tough times is not whether his or her style or gift mix will see them through, or even if their competence can carry the day.

At the point of crisis, no one cares about the leader’s interests or preferences, style or gifting, or even competence level. While these are important, they are never the primary issue.

The organization and its members want to know what the leader hungers and thirsts for, and so what they will do no matter what; what and whom the leader cares about deeply and so will suffer and sacrifice for willingly, even joyfully. They want to know what the leader must do, whose interests they must protect. They want to know if the leader has an inner fire, a soul inspired and ablaze.

During difficult times, people want to know and see the leader’s passion born of “dynamic purpose.”

The second obligation of the leader is to ignite passion in others. James MacGregor Burns reflected,

Where nothing is felt, nothing matters…. The leader’s fundamental act is to induce people to be aware or conscious of what they feel—to feel their true needs so strongly, to define their values so meaningfully, that they can be moved to purposeful action.”

British evangelist and founder of the Methodist church John Wesley vividly described this fundamental act.

When you set yourself on fire, people will love to come and watch you burn.”

Indifference and complacency are the mortal enemies of passion, and consequently the greatest challenge to effective leadership.

The French have a word for inappropriate superficiality in the face of a situation calling for a passionate, engaged response. It is insouciance, meaning a careless disregard or indifference; a dispassionate, carefree attitude inappropriate in light of the gravity of the occasion.

The ancient idea of sloth picks up on this careless indifferent attitude toward the consequential challenges and opportunities put before the leader and the organization. Sloth is one of the “seven deadly sins,” specifically a sin against the virtue of zeal. Zeal is an energetic, passionate response to the challenges put before us. Sloth is the disinclination to work, engage and exert oneself. Sloth should not be confused with mere physical laziness. It is much worse. It is spiritual, moral and relational laziness, a sickness of the soul, a spiritual malaise and deadly superficiality that weakens the will, and blinds us to the gravity of the situation before us, and the consequential decisions we must make to address it. If a leader is in the grip of sloth, or operates with an attitude of insouciance, they will likely flee from need and suffering, ignore opportunity, and instead walk in the way of comfort and ease to the detriment of the organization and those it serves.

Effective leaders are animated by passion born of noble purpose.

Wishes and inclinations, preferences and interests, even gifting and competence won’t suffice.

An effective leader’s most valuable asset is a soul inspired and ablaze, an inner fire that spurs them on and energizes those around them to endure in difficulty and pursue the noble purpose put before them.

Lacking passion, a leader may easily succumb to indifference and complacency, placing their leadership, as well as the mission of the organization at risk.