High Road Leaders = Givers, Level 5 Leaders

 John Maxwell has kept us on the high road for most of his leadership coaching and teaching career. But I’m not sure why he wrote his latest book, “High Road Leadership” except out of frustration for the divisiveness and conflict happening in the world, particularly the US, today. 

The Middle Road is traveled by Adam Grant’s Matchers: those operating from quid pro quo. I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine.

The Low Road travelers are only in it for themselves. Low Road Leader: ‘What have you done for me today?” They don’t care about how well the team does or the organization as long as they look good. Low Road leaders move from company to company trying to get better deals and often leaving behind a mess.

High Road leaders act in a way that ensures the team succeeds. They’ll take the blame and give the credit to others. They are the Givers in Adam Grant’s lingo. They are Level 5 leaders in Jim Collins’ “Good to Great.” They are servant leaders. They are ALLY leaders (Stephanie Chung). They are Multipliers (Weisman). They have the highest level of engagement because they provide choice (autonomy), content (mastery) and collaboration (purpose) in Kohn’s “Punished by Rewards” (and Daniel Pink’s “Drive”).

Maxwell frames his leadership challenge in ways to build trust, paying attention to different aspects of trust: vulnerability (openness), acceptance, authenticity, integrity… And courage and accountability/responsibility (including admitting your own mistakes), perseverance. And keeping the team aligned and focused on the goal. 

The book is focused on self-help for leaders. A check for whether you have the emotional stamina, empathy and confidence to release your own agenda and empower others to do their best, make appropriate decisions and receive recognition for their own excellence. This may be the best reason to breeze through the book.

Grant’s research has shown that Givers (High Road Leaders) succeed more than Matchers or Takers. In fact, if Takers are promoted into top positions, they don’t last long. Other Takers try to sabotage them. Also, Matchers…because there’s no quid for the quo coming back from the Takers. So if you need more encouragement to be a High Road Leader, understand Adam Grant’s take on this as well. 

Drift 1, off by 60

 A key lesson Stephanie Chung learned from her pilots in the private aviation company she ran was the 1 in 60 rule: drift off course by 1 degree, fly 60 miles and you’ll be off your mark by 1 mile. Pilots frequently check their course and correct little-by-little, rather than wait till they miss LAX by 40 miles. Similarly, in “Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You” she encourages leaders to check their team for alignment and collaborative spirit, for inclusion/belonging and bringing their best to the organization. When course adjustments are needed, better to catch them early and not wait till key people have left, the company has not met goals, or worse. 

Ally leadership comes from ALLY: Ask, Listen, Learn, You [take action]. And that you have to EARN your leadership spot in the eyes of your team: Ensure a safe environment, Assure alignment, Rally the troops (the hardest aspect for me who hates “rah, rah” stuff), Navigate the narrows (do the difficult things, stay on a new course rather than revert to old leadership habits…)

The author learned this leadership style from many people, made a few mistakes but worked hard at leading teams/companies made of people not like her (an African American female). She describes a time she resisted taking an assignment to lead a sales team in Texas (too damn hot!) composed of white men, who definitely didn’t want her there let alone be led by her. They’d never hit their sales targets until the year she worked with them. 

If you need to some excellent tips for leading people who are not like you—socioeconomically, generationally, ethnically, ethically, geographically, culturally, experientially and so on—you would do well to read Chong’s book. It reminds me a lot of Covey’s seven habits and Collins’ level 5 leadership. Leadership is not about you; it’s about your team. Help them succeed.