It was just after eight in the morning. I had been on an overnight flight across three time zones. My mind was fuzzy with fatigue and eyes drowsily droopy. But shut they would not.
I grabbed my bags and headed for the train station. A few minutes after rolling out of the station, my sight was assaulted by vivid color. For the next mile, the earth-retaining walls and the back walls of buildings next to the railway tracks were covered with graffiti. And I wondered, if graffiti was this elaborate here, why was there none in the airport arrival lounge?
At every train stop, the same scenario repeated itself about a mile into the station and another out of it. An hour later, we rolled into my destined station. It was the same as all the others. As soon as I stepped out onto the street, I quickly surveyed all the surrounding building for any signs of graffiti. None, zilch, nada… I wondered, “Why?”
There was clearly a lot of artistic acumen in the canvas of graffiti that was laid out on those walls. I could see the intricate thought. However, I also had a deep sense of the violent despair in the soul of the graffitist, emptiness.
The words and images were a depiction of a lost hope. It was like those behind the graffiti had ganged up to send a silent challenge and a plea to be pointed in the right direction. What if their talent was harnessed to improve the aesthetics of public places?
Back home, two separate incidents helped me understand why ganging up emerges when true leadership fails. When a leadership vacuum occurs, gangs slowly start to form and thrive.
Stop, Police!
I had a conversation with a senior police officer as he sat in the passenger seat of my car. Where I come from, it isn’t uncommon for a police officer to flag you down for a lift. They sometimes don’t have sufficient resources at their disposal. It was then that I spotted the driver of a commuter bus commit a traffic offence.
When I asked the police officer why this was so rampant, his response left me gutted. “You see,” he sighed in resignation, “If I arrest this guy, I’ll waste a good part of my day. The paperwork is time-consuming. When he goes to court, he’ll only have to pay a small fine and is back on the road a few hours later. So why bother? No one has been injured anyway.”
This special breed of gangs have emerged because of a lack of leadership in the judicial system and weak enforcement of laws. The traffic-law-breaking gangs have grown to endemic levels; just because a leader abdicated their role to put in place the right policies and protocols.
Checked Out
The second was a series of events at one of my former workplaces. Discord was evident everywhere. The quality of work had deteriorated. By the time I left, about half the work force was coming to the office an average of thirty minutes past the official reporting time. Some would saunter in as much as an hour late and act like nothing unusual had occurred.
About half the workforce was showing up but was checked out. They had formed an alliance; a gang of employees who did the bare minimum work that reflected the quality of the leadership.
Something unfortunate began to happen. A few hard-working valuable employees were unsettled by this mediocre gangs that had formed. They were frustrated as delivery of their results depended in part to their colleagues who had already “checked out.”
Finally, some of these valuable people started to check out too. They did not join the gangs of mediocrity; they left the organization for good!
Three ‘must-dos’ for Leaders
First, people have a deep desire to be led in an authentic way. You can’t expect goodness from people if you don’t extend it to them first. “If we have a good heart and concern for others, our actions will be positive.” ~Dalai Lama
Secondly, start small before things snowball on you. Assess your habits as a leader. If you show up late for work late, your followers will follow suit. It doesn’t matter whether you are a morning person or not. “Leadership is an action, not a position.” ~Donald McGannon
Third, listen to the pulse of workers who churn out quality work effortlessly. Protect and influence them to create gangs of excellence that grow the organization’s vision. “Leading an organization is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.” ~from the Tao the Ching
Which gangs would you rather lead? I’d love to read your comments!
Interesting — leadership as an action, not a position. It’s interesting to think of the people who are lazy in their work habits and careless in their hours as being leaders — not by their position but by their actions. If they commit to a particular path and no one challenges them, they lead others onto the same path. Be careful not to yield your role as leader to others.
Yes, leadership is verb. It is by doing that others follow with authenticity.
Very insightful, thought provoking post. ‘Leadership is not a position, it is action’. It helps to stop and think of the opportunity cost of inaction as a leader – creating mediocrity. ‘Be afraid of mediocrity’ is a mantra I am adopting.
Great to see you here Colleta. Thank you for your comment. Let’s slay mediocrity together. To your success.
It’s a pity that mediocrity has become institutionalised by our leaders…reminds me of Bertolt Brecht:
“Those who lead the country into the abyss
Call ruling too difficult
For ordinary men. (Bertolt Brecht1898-1956)
That’s a great reminder you give us Sospeter. Thank you for taking time to share with us.
Love it! Indeed, there are so many leadership vacuums in the world. So many great opportunities are lost.
Leadership in the home is certainly missing in so many ways, so spouses and children go looking for elsewhere.
Great thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting you mention spouses and children. My wife and I are parenting coaches and we encounter this regularly. The vacuum in the home front is saddening and heartbreaking. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Greg.
Simple. Thought provoking. Noted the very ‘American’ lean to the prose – by an otherwise English trained Kenyan.
Will make a point to visit your blog, with a cuppa tea. Likely I’ll stay a while.
Bea
You are very welcome to the blog Bea. You can blame the ‘leaning’ to my interaction with a global community 🙂
Well done Kimunya, great story telling as ever and always with great lessons drawn. Nature abhors a vacuum, and so do organisations. When one exists, various people and groups ‘compete’ to fill it – to often this leads to bad stuff happening.
Great contribution as ever!
Warmest wishes, David
Thanks David! And bad stuff can happen very fast, just went through that at my former job… Take care 🙂
Great post! Thank you for sharing these insights.
You are very welcome Ali. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
As always you knocked it out of the park. I love your story telling and how you can always bring it back to lessons for us to learn. Thanks for the valuable lessons and analogies.
Todd, I am very honored to be part of your awesome success. Thank you for the journey we are on.
Hi Kimunya,
Fab post! The Dalai Lama’s quote sums it up. Leaders acting from the heart align themselves with heart-felt followers. Awesome how it works, when you purify your intent.
Thanks!
I love your comment Ryan, will write it down as a reminder to myself. Thanks.
It’s impossible for a leader not to have some influence on the culture of a group unless they are quite exceptional, acting entirely as servants or enablers. It is rare any leader is so selfless. There are many statistics that demonstrate that the majority of disengaged leaders have disengaged teams. It really is a case of follow the leader. So to your point Kimunya, leaders shouldn’t take a chance on their behaviour, its being observed and absorbed and then reproduced.
As a foot note, in Melbourne Australia, as much as graffiti is a problem, there is some amazing graffiti in controlled environments including some really wonderful laneways in the city that act as a gallery for the exceptional artists of this genre. They are quite a tourist attraction.
Excellent observations Peter. Deliberate action is the nature of a leader. I could not help but notice your positive emotions when describing graffiti in controlled environments. When true leadership is activated, it evokes a positive reaction. That is why the graffiti attracts tourists, because there is some form of order. I believe that this graffiti is inspired to showcase art, not rebellion.
I agree – great observation. Graffiti artists, given a platform and opportunity may create beautiful works of art. I believe you hit on a tangent lesson from Kimunya’s post.
Great leaders see the passion within and effectively channel it for the benefit of the community.
Great post, Kimunya and excellent comment, Peter. Thank you, both, for sharing!
Thanks Ben, I am honored you stopped by. To passion!
Kimunya,
Not only did you capture the essence of what a leadership void creates — a vacuum for gangs — you tapped into the integrity lost when weak leadership gives birth to it.
I lived this as an employee; I lived it in a passionate hobby I still pursue; and as a consultant, I have been asked by weak leaders to fix it.
A reminder to all leaders, vigilance doesn’t mean you are paranoid; strength doesn’t mean you are a dictator. The courage to see reality and steer things back on course is critical to preventing errant leaders, power seekers, and gangs from taking root in your organization.
Superior post. Well done!
Kate
I love your insights Kate. Thank you for taking the time to leave such wonderful thoughts. I was especially attracted to “…vigilance doesn’t mean you are paranoid; strength doesn’t mean you are a dictator.”
Kimunya,
The point you made about how a mediocre gang can actually drive out good talent is so on accurate. Your best workers will begin to either slack off or just find some other place where their efforts will be appreciated. Poor leadership is costly.
Spot on Julia! I actually left a position due to a mediocre environment. In the long run, the cost is just too high.
Kimunya,
WOW! I love your insights in this post. Thank you for really making me think!
I love this:
“…Ganging up emerges when true leadership fails. When a leadership vacuum occurs, gangs slowly start to form and thrive.”
Hi Chery! Thank you for your feedback… To thoughts that matter!
Kimunya – thank you for your great post. As we know, all voids are quickly filled. Our job as coaches is to assist those who choose to fill a void be positive, effective role models. As you stated, mediocrity or lack of attention has no place in organizations today. Thank you for reminding us of our ever-present obligation to lead with strength, compassion, and mutual-benefit.
Great to read from you Susan. We have to fill those voids with quality and heart. Thank you for your wonderful thoughts…
This question is very timely because what we don’t deal with today will live to deal with us tomorrow.
Unhealthy gangs – ‘cabals’ are part of the reasons why some countries and organizations are in crisis today.
If I must form or lead a gang, it must be one that upholds excellence and enhances creativity for the betterment of all.
Sir Kimunya Mungo, thank you for sharing your beautiful sagacity with us. Remain a blessing!
Enoch, here’s to excellence and creativity. Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts.
I love the reminder that leadership is action not position. It is so easy to become complacent and forget WHY you are the leader.
You are right Cheryl. Thanks for stopping by.
Kimunya, great way of expressing current state of mind in leadership around the globe. It is “lasse faire” approach that prevails and came from one gang that is poisoning our beautiful planet.
Thanks for your thoughts Jaro. You are very right about this ‘poison’ that has infiltrated all aspects of life…