Chloe’s Chronicles:Volume II, Number 5

Chloe’s Chronicles:Views from the Management Muse

Chloe loves her car rides, whether it’s a short run for errands or a real road trip.  If I leave her in the car while I run into a store or office, she immediately moves into the driver’s seat and sits there, watching over the steering wheel, waiting for me to return, relinquishing the driver’s seat only when I approach the car and unlock the door.  It’s like she can’t stand for there to be no one in the driver’s seat so she steps up to the role of leader for the pack of one left in the car. 

 

The same is true for informal leaders within a business.  A vacuum of leadership will not exist for long before someone steps up to fill it, regardless of title, position or formal power structure.  Someone will move into the driver’s seat whether it’s the intended leader or not.

 

A leadership vacuum may be created when a leader leaves the company, but most often, it happens with everyone still in their same designated roles and positions.  It happens when the function of leadership is not being executed fully by those appointed to lead.  It usually happens by default, not design.

 

Most companies do not have a job classification titled “Leader” but expect that managers, directors, executives and owners will fulfill the role.  When the designated person falls short of the follower’s expectations of leadership, they look to someone else to provide the direction, information, inspiration and guidance that are expected of leadership.  Cliques form within departments or feuds between departments erupt; the grape vine or rumor mill takes over and the information gaps are filled with speculation, usually more negative than reality.  Unproductive energy is siphoned from the business of the company and diverted to sustaining the process of assigning meaning to the most trivial activities and events.

 

With Chloe, when I return to the car, she relinquishes the driver’s seat and contentedly returns to the back seat, settling in to the joy of the ride.  Likewise, when the formal leaders step fully into the role of leadership, providing the necessary inspiration and guidance through information and direction, the followers are willing to step back into their role. 

 

What leadership skills do you need to develop to meet the needs of the followers?

 

What can you learn from Chloe’s approach to filling the leadership void? Get in on the discussion, click on Comments below and let Chloe know what you think of her lesson.