What I want to talk about today is how leaders have to consider inspiring confidence in their organization, particularly at difficult or changing moments.
Frequently in our discussions for Diamond6, we talk about the definition of leadership that we like, provided by Dwight Eisenhower. Leaders have to decide what has to be done and then get others to want to do it. Get them buy into the vision.
Leaders have to deal with change.
This could be very, very difficult, particularly because leaders have to deal with change within the organization or change within the environment. We know full well most people within an organization are often times resistant to change.
Leaders set a vision.
Secondly, leaders are the ones who set a vision for the organization, particularly when the organization hits bumps in the road: problems, difficulties, setbacks. How do we respond in those particular and difficult moments.
Leaders must inspire their team.
Leaders inspire their team. One of the things that no one as a leader should ever forget that they need to be the one person in the organization that remains optimistic in the face of uncertainty. Let me tell you a story that perhaps illustrates that very, very well.
The 5th of June, 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower met with a bunch of young paratroopers from the Hundred first Airborne Division. You may have seen this iconic photograph of Eisenhower talking with the group, thrusting his hands out, knowing full well that these young men were going to board an aircraft, fly over the airspace over Nazi-controlled France, and parachute into enemy’s country.
Sadly, we know in that photograph, a number of the young men that were there were killed or wounded within 24 hours of the photograph being taken. The young Lieutenant in the center is a guy named Wally Strobel— and it happened to be Wally’s birthday. I had the opportunity to meet Wally Strobel about 10 years ago at an event. He certainly underscored the point that Eisenhower was trying to make. That is this operation is going to be successful. There is no doubt about it. He wasn’t talking to Strobel about how to jump out of an airplane, how to conduct platoon tactics, how to fire his weapon, or any of those things that Strobel had already worked on with his men so hard up until that particular moment. He was by his presence telling these guys this was going to work.
In fact, Eisenhower repeated that over and over in the preparation for the mammoth D-day invasion. When he spoke with his staff as early as March of 1944, he would say: “This operation is planned as a success. There can be no thought of failure. For I assure you there is no possibility of failure happening.” Now, in reality, privately Eisenhower agonized over this and actually wrote a note which he put into his pocket for if in fact the invasion had failed. In that note, which he was going to use for press conference or press release, he accepted the full responsibility, saying that the soldiers, sailors, and airman had participated and had done all they could and the failure was his responsibility alone. Eisenhower kept his fears private, while outwardly with Strobel and his staff sounding a note of optimism and competence.
So, when you are leading your team at a difficult moment, when you are trying to convince them to accept change that you’re fully convinced the organization has to embrace, you might reflect back on the thoughts of Dwight Eisenhower at a difficult moment in his leadership and a conversion with a young lieutenant by the name of Wally Strobel. Finally, you might even think about a great quote from an author on leadership that I like by John Gardner.
“The first and the last task of a leader is to keep hope alive in the organization. “
We want to hear from YOU! How do you stay optimistic and confident as a leader? Share your comments below.