How to be a competent leader

The Police Service has been criticised for creating absentee leaders, or corridor sidewinders that slither from one crisis to another – not making a decision they can be pinned down to and shedding their skin whenever criticism follows. Tim Roberts says that whilst this has changed, a leader in today’s demanding organisational environment needs to be courageous and become an organisational physician to create value through wisdom and conversation

Promotion is simultaneously exciting and fearful. In the “old” days those who were promoted were told to manage, now, they are expected to lead and this is different.

People are aware that the root meaning of the word to lead is to go forward and upward. In a literal sense it implies walking ahead of those following, trailblazing so to speak, especially in the context of a community where the word leader was first used.

The Police Service is very much a collection of police
“communities” within one service.

In some way the etymology of the word leadership tells us
what leaders should aspire to. The suffix “ship” was an important word in the Gothic language and has at its heart
“schaeppen” – meaning to create a thing of value.

The English word shape comes from schaeppen, which speaks of a life-affirming creativity in every sense. So, leadership asks us to be creative, bold, to embrace new meanings and, above all, to be lifeaffirming and add value.

This, if accepted, will forever change the notion of the public-
service absentee leader who just keeps a lid on things and doesn’t rock the boat, aiming at that next sideways move or
promotion.

Police leadership
The Police Service has been criticised for creating absentee
leaders, or corridor sidewinders that slither from crisis to crisis
not making a decision they can be pinned down to and shedding their skin whenever criticism follows.

This has changed but a leader in today’s demanding organisational environment has to be courageous – there are no other choices and there are fewer places to hide if you are not.

In another important respect, leading today is easier than in
recent times. The single reason for this is the popularity of complexity science.

What this means for police leadership can be summed up
in a single sentence: things rarely go to plan and they constantly evolve and it is this we need to be alert to and adapt to.

“IF LEADERS ARE ATTENTIVE THEY WILL BE OPEN
TO INTUITION, JARRING OF THEIR INTEGRITY, THE
STRENGTH OF THEIR AUTHENTICITY AND
COMPASSION, AND OTHER QUALITIES”

All this makes the first duty of a leader straightforward – they
have to become first-class noticers! Only when we notice can
we adapt, only when we adapt can we stay on track. If you
don’t believe this, take a simple test – try the opposite and see
how long you last! Don’t notice, don’t adapt and still try to lead.

When I say leading today is easier than in recent times
I don’t mean the workload is easier – it’s not. I do mean
that there is less tolerance for management-speak crap and
consultancy double-dutch!

Complexity science gives leaders permission to get back
to basics, if permission was needed.

In an organisation, how do we become first-class noticers? The answer is simple – we have to have more effective conversations with more people. Studies into complexity show something startling – that the bulk of the work is actually having conversations with people.

Organisational webs

It is only through conversations that leaders can learn about what they need to notice because conversations are portals to expansive organisational webs. On these webs are carried issues, problems and, critically, solutions. Through these webs leaders reassure, inspire and influence.

Leading is as much about listening as anything, followed
by caring, straight talking and the courageous taking of responsibility, all grounded in honesty and compassion.

Two powerful questions that leaders need to ask themselves
constantly are:

• What am I making undiscussable?
• What am I doing that dissuades people from sharing
  their insights with me?

I use these questions with the leaders I coach and they reveal very important traits and opportunities.

If a leader makes things undiscussable, they halt conversations
and the ones they take part in may be pseudo conversations
designed to protect the other party and keep the leader at a distance.

In other words, there is an absence of honest sharing.

In addition, if a leader is less than honest with his or her
leaders then he or she is making things undiscussable.

If a leader is dissuading people from sharing insights then the leader is not plugged into the organisational web and is isolated, which is a position of vulnerability.

Holistic leading
Leading is less about rational thought in isolation and more
about the holistic. Claxton describes rational thought as “D
mode” and his research suggests that D mode:

• Operates a sense of urgency and impatience
• Is precise
• Likes plans that are reasonable and justified rather than
  intuitive
• Seeks to close problems down fast – sometimes to immature conclusions
• Regards conscious, articulate understanding as the essential basis for action
• Is much more interested in finding answers and solutions
  than examining questions.

Claxton says that complex issues are too intricate for D mode to grasp. Any situation that is evolving or emergent is like this. D mode is unequal to the task of explaining complicated systems and dealing with some ambiguous situations, which is most of police work except the evidence gathering.

What is needed now is a reevaluation of the slower ways
of knowing – of intuition as an essential compliment to D mode (not a replacement).

Claxton says: “As a culture, we have lost our sense of unconscious intelligence.”

Success comes from a balance of the rational (D mode),
with the embracing of the wider ways that people know what
they know. Conversation is vital for tuning into this.

Leadership competencies
Leadership development these days is ultimately about cultivating a quality of attentiveness. Bear in mind that all technical results are achieved through people interactions.

If leaders are attentive they will be open to intuition, jarring
of their integrity, the strength of their authenticity, compassion, and other qualities – all of which serve a number of leadership competencies. In addition, if leaders are attentive they can make insightful use of rational D mode when needed yet not be trapped within it.

Michael Carroll’s writing is inspirational in this regard because,
as he comments: “A doctor’s ability to be fully alert when diagnosing a health problem often spells the difference between vitality and disaster.

“LEADING IS AS MUCH ABOUT LISTENING AS ANYTHING, FOLLOWED BY CARING, STRAIGHT TALKING AND THE COURAGEOUS TAKING OF RESPONSIBILITY, ALL GROUNDED IN HONESTY AND COMPASSION”

“Noticing a seemingly minor scratch or unusual prescription
dosage can pique a physician’s interest to look a bit closer and discover an impending health crisis.

“Physicians are trained to let go of their training as much as rely on it; being available to circumstances as they unfold is very much the physician’s territory… Actually, cultivating our ability to let go is essential…

“All of us have the ability, for example, to say or do just
the right thing in the moment or produce useful ideas out
of what seems to be thin air. While this ability comes naturally, it must be cultivated.

“Like most elegant and powerful things, our ability to let go and be has its own inherent strength but it also requires respect, care and nourishment… We are inviting a wider and wiser
perspective.”

So, you’ve been promoted – congratulations! Now is your chance to develop leadership, to become an organisational
physician and to create value through wisdom and conversation. This is the best challenge in the world – relish it!

References
Two superb books that may help, especially if you develop
leaders, are Coach and Couch: The psychology of making better leaders by Kets De Vries, Korotov and Florent-Treacy; Facilitating Organizational Change: Lessons from Complexity Science by Olson and Eoyang.

M Carroll (2006) Awake at Work, Shambhala, Boston.

G Claxton (1998) Hare Brain Tortoise Mind: Why intelligence increases when you think less. Fourth Estate, London.

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