Listen and Learn
Leaders must recognize that they, too, can learn by listening to employees.
A couple of years ago, University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy watched a platoon of Army Rangers raid a terrorist camp. The enemy was heavily armed and had chemical weapons, and the Rangers were caught off guard when they realized that the terrorists had night-vision goggles and were hiding behind a fence of triple-strand razor wire. Then the radios failed. It was chaos.
The raid, staged at Fort Benning, Ga., was only a simulation. But what struck Tichy most was the after-action review. Defying all his preconceived notions about military hierarchy, right after the simulation ended, at 1 a.m., everyone sat down, from generals to privates, "all stripes off, [for] honest, candid feedback," says Tichy. The point of the exercise wasn't "to become perfect in choreographed maneuvers," but rather to "season soldiers to make split-second decisions in difficult circumstances." The after-action reviews, Tichy writes in his book, The Cycle of Leadership (HarperCollins, 2002), "are designed to develop functioning leaders, able to accomplish their missions despite the obstacles, rather than lock-step martinets."
The Rangers' reviews exemplify the "virtuous teaching cycle," a concept that Tichy-who once ran General Electric Co.'s executive academy-touts in his book. The virtuous teaching cycle exists when "you reduce hierarchy and say this is all about learning," he explains. Tichy argues that top-down leadership styles don't work in either the military or business world, and leaders must recognize that they, too, can learn by listening to employees. The Special Forces' transformation into a teaching organization, Tichy says, has advanced the Rangers from a purely warfighting function to an all-purpose nation-building force. In countries such as Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, Special Forces have had to fight the enemy and also work with communities to rebuild schools, infrastructure and government.
Much of Tichy's book focuses on his work with General Electric and former CEO Jack Welch's extensive, personal investment in teaching-and learning from-his executives. Tichy holds out GE as an example that any organization, including government, should follow. GE requires top executives to complete two-year turns at its academy in Ossining, N.Y. These "black belts," as the company calls them, teach quality control techniques and gather ideas from employees on improving processes. But Tichy gets frustrated when he hears talk about government emulating private industry. "Ninety percent of businesses are run like crap," he says. "You want to run like the Olympic runners, not the average."
And government has developed plenty of good leaders on its own. Tichy profiles one, retired Gen. Wayne Downing, former head of Special Forces, whom he credits with becoming more autonomous and reacting quickly to changing circumstances without guidance from above. Downing recognized that the terrorist threats of the 21st century require not "Rambos" but "team-oriented" soldiers who not only can fight wars, but work on economic development, and health-care and democracy-building projects, Tichy says.
He credits Downing with rejecting the hierarchical, structured teaching techniques that he learned early in his own military career. "Command-and-control hierarchies, with their cram-down, one-way communication create vicious cycles in which information is hidden, gamesmanship is raised to a high art and trust is destroyed." By contrast, Downing reached out to his soldiers, asking them what they were finding during their missions and what skills they needed to succeed.
Facing a retirement wave among its top executives, government has a challenge ahead in filling the void. But Tichy believes that leaders are made, not born. Today's government leaders must keep the pipeline flowing. "The worst people in the world to help develop leaders are professors and consultants," he says. "It is your job as the leader."