Intolerance is the Death of Leadership
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Word Count: About 800, approximate reading time 4 to 6 minutes. Please share your thoughts in the comments. Please be kind and subscribe to my newsletter.
Intolerance is part of the human condition. We have seen it throughout history. The focus of intolerance changes over time but its nature is constant. As part of a film class I took at The University of Texas at Austin, I watched D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, released in 1916. Griffith explored the theme of intolerance in four parallel storylines from different historical eras in this film. There is a bit of irony when you consider that Griffith released The Birth of a Nation in 1915, a film that many argue glorifies intolerance.
When leaders become intolerant, they stop being leaders. As all of us grow as leaders, we naturally become more self-confident. This is as it should be. For some, continued success and rewards put them on a path toward arrogance. These leaders become so convinced in their infallibility that they rarely consider other points of view. Arrogant leaders still listen occasionally and grudgingly accept input and advice from others. They do not value those who offer alternatives. They represent a threat to their self-belief. They will eventually find a way to move those people out.
There is a fine line between arrogant and intolerant leadership. Intolerants demand absolute and unquestioning loyalty. When they ask for opinions, it is really a loyalty test in disguise. Alternatives are dismissed, and the presenter of the new idea will be moved out. There is no such thing as an intolerant leader. They become tyrants and dictators when they transition from arrogant leaders to intolerants.
Intolerants are like black holes. They exert a force that distorts everything that nears the event horizon. The best talent will reach escape velocity before getting too close. Lesser talent will be distorted and compromised. When they cross the event horizon, they metaphorically cease to exist. They abandon any individuality they possess.
Book Review – Slalom
In Slalom, Olympic Gold Medalist Joe Jacobi uses his career in river sports to create a model for navigating the uncertainties we all face. The river analogy is an excellent tool to help us navigate our personal leadership journey. In The Leader With A Thousand Faces, I describe four types of leadership in action.
Programs and Initiatives – This is steady state leadership. The surface of the river is calm and we are tempted to stop paddling and drift along with the current. When we do this, we lose focus. There may be dangers under the surface that we must avoid. As we drift, we may get too close to the left or right bank and be out of position for what may be around the next bend. The water will appear calm but we must be alert to subtle changes in the current that tell us things are about to change.
Turnaround Leadership – As we travel down the river, it may split and become two. We must be prepared to choose the right path. If we are out of position, we may be forced to paddle against the current to get into the correct place. Fighting the flow of the river requires significant effort, and there is a limit to how long we can sustain this level of activity. Two rivers can merge to become one. The water becomes turbulent and our original course must change. Our direction changes because we are on a new river.
Crisis Leadership – Without warning, the river may narrow. The speed of the current increases and we find ourselves navigating rapids. To successfully navigate the rapids without turning over and losing our supplies, we must take decisive and immediate action. We constantly adjust and adapt to the changing river. After navigating the rapids, we have time to take stock of where we are and plan our next steps.
Visionary Leadership – As we navigate the river, we may conclude that we need a different boat for what lies ahead. We have to put ashore and prepare for the next phase of the journey down the river.
Unlike preparing for races, as Joe describes in his book, our river is undiscovered. We do not know what lies beyond the next bend. Our rivers never come to an end.
What I’m Up To
My wife and I and two other couples traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to attend the annual Indian Market. This event is organized by the Southwestern Association of American Indian Arts (SWAIA). Each August, an estimated 100,000 people attend the largest juried Native American art show, which sponsors over one-thousand Native artists from more than one hundred tribal communities in North America and Canada. Santa Fe is one of our favorite cities. The market was a fantastic display of Native American art and culture.
Chips and Salsa: Bite-sized news and posts.
ESPN8: The Ocho Rules!
The World Excel Championships were on ESPN
The Rise and Fall of the Compact Disc – I had my share of them in the day.
Statisa - Compact Disc Infographic
Quiet Quitting – A new name for the old problem of poor employee engagement
Quiet Quitting Post with CNN articles
Quotes
“When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.”
- Bernard Bailey
“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”
- Leonardo da Vinci
The Leader With A Thousand Faces is available on Amazon.
My goal is to make this newsletter as interesting and valuable as possible. Please share your thoughts and suggestions for improvement. If there are specific topics in leadership you would like me to focus on in future issues, please send them my way.
