Several months ago in this column, I wrote about the value of a recession and how a leader truly learns leadership when times are bad, not when they are good. That topic came up again at a Corporate Directors Forum monthly educational program. The title of the program was “Leading in Times of Fear”. The panelists represented disparate backgrounds, with a common theme that resonated. Each was uniquely qualified to participate as an expert on the subject.
Jeff Bowman was the San Diego Fire Chief who successfully led a woefully underfunded department through the fire storms of October 2003. Bob Schoulz is the director of the Master’s program in Global Leadership at the University of San Diego and a former SEAL for thirty years. Linda Lang at the time was the CEO and Chair of Jack in the Box, leading 43,000 employees who hold our health in their hands, literally. All serve on a variety of business, educational and non-profit boards. These three people humbly demonstrated the character that leaders should develop by applying basic principles which are easy to understand and difficult to live up to.
One of the questions from the audience was particularly interesting. The question was, if a leader is feeling anxious or fearful, is it helpful to share that with the people she leads, or is it damaging? Every one of the panelists had the same response: It’s okay to share with the leader’s direct reports that the leader is feeling anxious or has concerns about a given situation. But it is critical to demonstrate observable behavior that communicates confidence, calmness, sound business judgment and a willingness to act. And the panelists further said that even verbalizing anxiety to others beyond direct reports is not a wise idea.
As I thought about their answers, I reflected on my own experiences of leading in difficult times. I have not guided 1,500 employees through the worst disaster to that date for a city, and fielded international attention during the process. I have not led men through combat where literally life and death decisions were “normal”. I have not been a leader of a company that faced eradication after small children died from eating my company’s products. My challenges have been, in comparison, more prosaic. Thankfully. But to the degree I have experienced fearful conditions (largely economic) in the businesses I’ve led, I have seen the wisdom in the panelists’ response to the question of whether and how a leader should display the all-too-human emotion of fear. It’s okay to admit to it. It’s not okay to demonstrate it.
Now at first, this would seem inauthentic. Like pretending we’re somebody we’re not. But Dr. Shoma Morita, a brilliant psychologist of the 1930’s, would have said that “pretending” can be a powerful way of “becoming”, if it is based on action. Another way he said it is, “You can’t think your way into right acting. But you can act your way into right thinking.” Morita asserted that if you want to be a courageous, ethical leader who is effective in a crisis, you would do these things: 1) meditate on the behaviors that would exemplify such a leader (visualization), 2) you would write out your thoughts about the subject in a journal (translating visualization to indirect action), and then 3) you would directly act out the role of the courageous, ethical and effective leader…even if you didn’t feel like one. Over time, your external actions would change your internal character. As the old saying goes, “Leaders are made, not born”.
Another form of the panelists’ perspective of acting brave even if you don’t feel that way comes to us from Zen Buddhism. An old proverb says that a Zen master was asked how his life was different after achieving enlightenment. The master paused thoughtfully, then responded, “Well, before I was enlightened, I would chop wood and carry water. After I became enlightened, I then chopped wood and carried water.”
What the Zen master is saying is that one of the ways to enlightenment is putting in the work, doing the hard things that aren’t comfortable or glamorous. Practical and often mundane or elementary action can cause internal development of character and wisdom. I saw a CEO taking out the trash from the company kitchen once. I asked him why he was doing that. He said the can was full. In that simple act and straightforward response was the essence of the Zen master’s lesson. My desire to follow that CEO went up dramatically based on the example he was setting.
Jeff, Linda and Bob are Zen masters of modern organizations. I am very glad that they are serving on important boards where their decisions will affect many thousands of families. I feel confident that they will feel fear. I feel confident that they will act bravely.