I received a text a little over a week ago from a CEO I coach (I've served on his Advisory Board for years now and have loved seeing his company prosper - and him grow so much personally through a lot of adversity). It read, "How much collaboration with the rest of leadership would you expect from your [insert executive title here] when it comes to [insert critical for the entire company task]?". Obviously I'm being careful not to disclose the details to protect confidentiality.
Here we find ourselves on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - a celebration of one of history's ultimate collaborators and change-agents. Everyone in American schools studies MLK, of course, but I got to go a little deeper on his leadership in my studies at The Aspen Institute as a Henry Crown Fellow. One of our readings was "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and I couldn't recommend more highly that you read it (you can do so here). It is one of the most amazing leadership readings I've ever been introduced to. It is a systematic, gentlemanly takedown of one of the most challenging times in American history - by the ultimate collaborative leader. Pay close attention in the letter to how MLK challenges his opposition to collaborate with him by looking within themselves and within their own religion. The religious undertones are reminiscent to what is probably the best speech I've ever read, also introduced to me by The Aspen Institute, by Frederick Douglass. It is titled "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?". It is also a systematic takedown with a strong uppercut punch (you can read it here). I highly recommend you study both of these incredibly historic speeches on this MLK day - the most appropriate day to do so. At a minimum, all lovers of leadership should bookmark and read these pieces in 2018.
As Walter Isaacson, the long-time (and recently retired) CEO of The Aspen Institute, spoke about at last year's Aspen Action Forum, the very basis of human success is based on collaboration. I'm quoting from his speech at that Forum, "Looking at things in silos never allows you to see the patterns and relationships in things." That quote is especially important to us at data.world if you understand what our mission is about. Remember that Walter is the famous biographer that has deeply studied Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and, most recently, Leonardo da Vinci (I bought this last biography, signed by Walter, for my my data.world executive team members as a holiday gift). Walter's net takeaway from studying them so deeply - they were all about collaboration and curiosity. Would you think of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein as natural collaborators? I'm sure you would think of them as naturally curious. But collaborators? Aren't they perceived as geniuses that know it all? How many executives model themselves after geniuses that know it all (see my prior Lucky7 post on The importance of an Always Be Learning life)?
I think you know where I'm going with this. The CEO asking me this question already knew the answer, of course. Sometimes we as leaders just need to say it out loud to another leader to know just how ridiculous our question is. But yet I've (sadly) worked with some executives who are not collaborators. Who build their walled fortresses not to be inspected. Who bristle at the hint of critical feedback. Who either genuinely think they know it all or feign that they do due to their lack of self confidence and therefore genuine self-inspection.
I've gotten to the point in my career where I avoid hiring non-collaborating executives to the best of my ability. They hold a deep belief system and it is the opposite of mine. This isn't to say that I don't deeply believe in competence. I love competence and I celebrate it every time I see it. I absolutely love working with highly intelligent and accomplished executives and team members. But I've learned over time that the best of the best are natural collaborators, unafraid of inspection and questioning. They crave feedback - they thrive on it. They realize that no matter how experienced or intelligent they are that they would rather leave no rock unturned than take the risk of just listening to their own experience - and biases. They love to work with others and genuinely celebrate them. And, as a result, their coworkers are deeply attracted to following and working with them. And the company - and they - perform much better as a result.
Learning and collaboration go hand in hand. If you are a natural collaborator, it means you are naturally always seeking to learn more - to better your skills and perspective. You'll naturally live an Always Be Learning life.
So when does collaboration go too far? When it compromises your own values. I've confused the two in the past and it has hurt me deeply when I do. Never compromise your own values in the name of collaboration. For example, one time I recall like it was yesterday, as CEO I wanted to fire an executive (this was before data.world) because I could clearly see that their performance was severely lacking. Performance is one of my core values (and it is a core value at data.world as well). I collaborated with a few to gut-check my decision - and I was talked out of it. Not because they disagreed with me - they also believed that this executive's performance was severely lacking (notably, the executive in question was a terrible collaborator). But on the basis of timing - this not being a good time to fire the executive in question. And I regretted listening to them deeply. I'll never forget it and if I could go back in time, I would have fired them immediately. The executive in question continued to damage the company I had founded - to the point where it became harder and harder to recover from.
Back to my CEO friend, after he and I talked he immediately put his executive in question on a performance plan. I truly hope that his executive in question overcomes their lack of collaboration. They will be a better person for it. If you ever find yourself in this position - as the executive who is not a natural collaborator - I highly recommend you read this Lucky7 post. It may be just the medicine you need.
Happy MLK Day, everyone. I would love to hear your comments and experiences below.
