Do know what a Minuteman III missile is? It’s a 60-foot tall, 80,000 pound nuclear missile that can fly 15,000 mile per hour to any part of the world in 30 minutes or less and deliver an explosion 20 times stronger than what the U.S. used to end World War II. Did you also know that the U.S. has 450 of them under 24 hour watch and maintenance 365 days per year. Do you know who supervises these world-ending weapons? The Minuteman missileers are 750 highly trained military officers in the field of ballistic missile operations. They must pass a mind-numbing amount of tests to qualify, and once named a missileer they face a career of relentless emergency response check ins to ensure safe operations of the missiles.
Despite the intensive training and testing that missileers endure, a corrosive culture of apathy, corner cutting, and poor decision making was discovered amongst this group of specialists in the early 2000’s. Seven years of scrutiny uncovered a laundry list of amateur mistakes perpetuated by a toxic culture. How could such a culture exist amongst a group of highly intelligent operators whose purpose is to ensure the safety of the human race? In short, the missileers felt no connection with their superiors. Missileers work 24 hour shifts in pairs cooped up in missile silos with no connection to other missileers and no connection to their superiors. Almost all communication with the team and superiors is done electronically. It is a lonely assignment. The lack of connection with superiors was particularly troubling because reform efforts, designed by superiors, had almost no effect on the quality of the missileers performance.
And that brings me to a pointed lesson for leaders to consider. The missileer superiors could not change the missileers because there was no connection with the missileers. An important reality for leaders, especially those that work in any industry that requires specialized training and long hours outside of the watch of superiors (education, accounting, medicine, etc.), is that you cannot influence ‘them’ until you are viewed as one of ‘them’. Here are a few ways that leaders can work to become one of ‘them’ so that they will allow you to influence ‘them’ as a leader.
Be patient with them - It takes time for a leader to become part of an intelligent, skilled group. How long will it take? In all of my experiences (parenting, education, coaching, fitness, career, etc) with anything requiring patience, it takes longer than I wanted or expected. It would not require patience if it took anything less than that, right? Becoming part of ‘them’ will take a lot of time. Be patient.
Read about them - I recently relocated to a new state and one of the most helpful things I did to enhance my connection with all of my new ‘thems’ was to read books on the history of their state. It was incredible how much insight I gained by understanding the history of the state. If you want to become one of ‘them’ you have to learn as much about ‘them’ as you can.
Speak like them - Daniel Coyle in his book, ‘The Culture Code’ points out that highly connected groups have a common language. There are certain terms used that mean certain things. Often time, leaders spend too much time trying to craft common language when much of it may already exist. Leaders that want to become part of a pre-existing, highly connected group need to use the existing language of the group. They need to speak like them.
Spend time with them - Proximity has a correlation to leadership effectiveness. Much like WD-40 makes metal parts work together smoother, visiting them and spending time with them makes it easier to work with and lead ‘them’. No matter how full your inbox is, how many reports you have to create, or whatever else is written on your to do list, don't stop spending time with your people.
Laugh with them - Comedian, George Carlin, quipped, 'We all smile in the same language.' Laughing connects people. The best part of a good laugh with others is you can revisit the laugh and often get another laugh. It's always a great thing when a leader can say, 'hey, remember when....?' The laugh is even better, if the leader is secure enough to laugh at themselves.
Thank them - Gregg Popovich, 5-time NBA champion coach, is an over the top ‘thanker’. He thanks everyone in the Spurs organization for everything. He often thanks his players for allowing him to coach them. Regular expressions of gratitude affirm to a group that you value them. Say thank you. For. Every. Thing.
Ask what you can do for them - This is a literal suggestion. Begin or end every interaction with ‘Hey, what can I do for you?’ Or ‘Is there something I can do for you?’ 99% of the time your people will not have a request. It is the regular expression of this sentiment that tells them that you are here for them. The 1% of the time they do have a request is a gift-wrapped opportunity to prove that you are in deed here for them.
If you apply these suggestions, one day, you’ll realize you have become one of them. It is at that point that ‘them’ has become ‘us’ and that is a special feeling for all involved.
Keep on, keepin’ on, friends!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Comments
Post a Comment