THE current situation in GUYSUCO and I daresay our Guyanese society at large continues to point to the need for imaginative and creative leadership. I am taking the liberty of offering some thoughts which have their genesis in a classic study by distinguished research professors and prolific writers on management and leadership, W. G. Bennis and R. J. Thomas, one of which, for example, appeared in the September 2002 issue of the prestigious and credible Harvard Business Review. In their search for answers to the timeless question, “why is it that certain people seem to naturally inspire confidence, loyalty and hard work, while others falter and fail?”
‘Crucibles’ date back to the vessels used by medieval alchemists to transform base metals into gold. For most effective leaders their crucible was an incident or traumatic testing experience that led to deep self-reflection which eventually transformed them into action that typified their distinctive leadership style.
Our own Dr. Yesu Persaud, Chairman of the DDL Group of companies and widely acknowledged iconic business, civic and societal leader can fill several volumes of the HBR with his testing experiences, reflections and resolve as he self transformed and provided transformational leadership in numerous aspects of the socio-economic landscape of Guyana. Of the many case studies catalogued by Bennis and Thomas, the Sidney Harman case is worth a read; here is a synopsis:
One day he was told that his company’s factory was in crisis; he rushed over and discovered that a particularly “raw, ugly and demeaning section of the factory, doing dull, hard work often under unhealthy conditions” had erupted over issues concerning the 10.00 pm coffee break. The buzzer that normally announced the coffee break malfunctioned and management decided to postpone the break for 10 minutes, when another buzzer was scheduled to sound. One worker protested this arbitrary decision saying to his fellow workers “I don’t work for no buzzer; the buzzer works for me; it is my job to tell me when it’s ten o’clock; I got me a watch; I’m not waiting for another ten minutes; I am going on my coffee break!” So all his mates took their coffee break and of course ‘all hell broke loose’!
The worker’s principled ‘rebellion’, his refusal to be cowed by management’s senseless rule, was indeed a revelation to Harman that the technology was there to serve the men, not the reverse. Harman soon revamped the modus operandi of the factory by encouraging the workers to take significant responsibility for running the workplace. Further, he created an environment where dissent was not only tolerated but encouraged. He had unexpectedly become a pioneer in participative management. Harman went on to greater achievements but always looked back at this incident as the formative event in his professional life.
The details of this story are unique, but their significance is not. Such experiences are ‘the crucibles’ that shape most leaders, the narratives from which they benefited, and from which we certainly can learn how to become better leaders.