“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.“
--Edith Wharton
In his brilliant book, Adapt or Die, Lieutenant General (Retired) Rick Lynch lists as one of his leadership principles Look Down, Not Up. He reinforces it with the timeless quote from President Theodore Roosevelt: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” One of my favorite quotes from arguably one of our greatest presidents. I highly recommend Lynch’s book to anyone who aspires to be a better leader, as anyone serious about the business of leading should be. None of us has this “leadership thing” fully figured out…we’re all works in progress.
Well, what does it mean for a leader to “look down, not up?” How does that work? What are leader actions that will resonate with the led to indicate they are in fact cared for, invested in, appreciated, valued? There are lots of ways, but it starts with being vulnerable.
What is one of the most common workplace complaints? According to LinkedIn survey, 79% of employees say they had a micromanaging boss at some point in their career. These are bosses who want to control their work environment down to the minutest detail. I understand the urge—who wouldn’t want everything done exactly to their own preference?
But being a good leader is not about controlling minutiae. It’s about providing your team with an objective and giving them the freedom to find a way to meet it. Leaders who paint a picture of success through effective communication; establish left and right boundaries (ideally as wide as practical); explain resourcing; dictate when check-ins will occur; lay out the timeframe is for the project; and, critically, how what they are assigning fits into an overarching picture and contributes to the whole, are empowering leaders. They are showing they care by using this kind of vulnerable leadership to develop their people, to grow them as tomorrow’s leaders.
Without a doubt, loosening the reins can feel risky and make bosses feel vulnerable, not in a positive way. But that is exactly what good leaders should strive for—getting comfortable with a level of uncertainty. They should throw aside the adage, If you want something done right, do it yourself, and empower others to take the helm, even when it means giving up some control.
I can’t think of a better means of Looking Down, Not Up than leading in this way. To me, a leader’s principal responsibility is to develop their subordinates. They should always be able to speak to what they are doing in this regard, including who they are developing to one day fill their shoes, or be competitive for an advancement, pay raise, or whatever. This investment is what caring leadership is all about, for caring for someone so as to sacrifice your own time and energy, to commit to them, is what effective, admired leaders do. There’s no simpler way to put it.
Of course, this means that sometimes, in the course of empowering, of leading as described above, things won’t work out as desired. Deadlines missed. Projects delayed. Bids lost. Whatever. Well, that’s sometimes the price of being a caring leader. And this is where the leader gut check kicks in. For if failure is encountered, good leaders will honestly appraise their role in that outcome and determine what they could have done better. They and those they lead learn and move on.
A lot of leaders don’t conduct this honest self-appraisal, though. They’re incapable of being vulnerable. They point fingers, fix blame, blow their tops, fire people, throw others under the bus, and deflect responsibility anywhere but on themselves. And that’s the catch—leaders can and should delegate authority to make decisions, preserving the most critical, consequence-laden ones for themselves. Whenever they can, though, they should delegate that authority. It’s another means of development. But what cannot be delegated, though, is responsibility. That’s why leaders get paid big bucks.
We’ve all been there and know what caring, downward facing leaders do. How gratifying is it when a leader enjoys success but remains in the background, putting others front and center to receive the recognition, to bask in the spotlight. It’s a thing of beauty when that happens. What do invulnerable leaders do? They preen, take the credit, boast, but when things go wrong they remain in the background, allowing others to take the heat. That’s called upward facing leadership, the worst kind.
Caring leaders, those who truly embody the principle of Look Down, Not Up, are first and foremost vulnerable leaders, because they care.