One of the greatest lessons I have ever received about leadership took place in 1993. I was a young and ambitious 24 year old looking to make his mark in a large corporate organisation. I had been at Optus for 2 months when I first met Bob Mansfield – Bob was the founding CEO of the 2nd Australian telecommunications carrier, and even though the company was less than 12 months old, its impact on the market was immediate, profound, and very quickly it became a large organisation. At the time, the employees were in awe of Bob; he was like a rockstar – always in the media, representing the company at every opportunity, and when he came to town, people would relish the opportunity to be close to him. He would religiously ‘walk the floors’, engage with the employees, attend Team Meetings, and seek opportunities to serve his team. And what impressed me the most was Bob’s incredible ability to remember names. He would only need to meet you once, and on the next visit to town, if your paths happened to cross, he would proactively greet you by name and engage in a genuine conversation. His demeanour and his approach was engulfed in curiosity, and he created an environment where, in his presence, you felt as though you were the most important person on the planet, at that moment. It was years later when working with a mentor that I realised the lesson that Bob taught so well; as a Leader, it is actually not about you! Following this realisation, I then reflected on how Bob created this leadership environment, and how the organisation was able to grow so strong, so quickly, to become a very successful company. Here is what I discovered :
• He made it extremely easy for employees to answer the 2 questions asked of every Leader – 1) Does the Leader care about me? and 2) Can I trust him? These 2 questions are asked by every single employee in any organisation (either consciously, or unconsciously), and the leader who can create an environment where the answer to both is a resounding ‘Yes’, they then have created a very strong leadership foundation. Bob’s ability to demonstrate his caring for others was extraordinary – he would ask genuine, curious and insightful questions of his people, and when next meeting them, would ask follow up questions – and questions often not directly related to the business, but certainly related to the person, such as hobbies, family and other interests. Through this process, he developed a level of trust amongst his people that was unparalleled.
• He was fully present – when meeting with Bob, everything & everyone around you tended to disappear, such was his intense focus on the conversation and being present for you, in the moment. He constantly maintained eye contact and demonstrated one of the most profound leadership attributes – he listened. When speaking with Bob, you felt special and valued.
• He was accessible – even though the organisation was growing at a rapid rate, Bob always prioritised spending quality time with his people – he realised that, although he was the head of the company, it was through his people, that the company would expand and continue to be successful.
• He prioritised ‘Ad-Hoc’ conversations – linking to the above point about being accessible, Bob religiously walked the floors of the building, engaging in ‘Ad-Hoc’ conversations with people, building relationships, seeking feedback and ideas. He didn’t revert to and rely on the corporate ‘spin doctor’ email messages to engage with his employees – he relished the on the spot, in the moment conversations, and so did his people.
• He was humble – throughout his entire tenure at Optus, not once did I ever see Bob take personal credit for the success of the company. Now I truly believe that the level of success that Optus achieved during the early years was a direct result of Bob’s leadership, however, he always gave away credit to others, to his team, for the success of the organisation, and took away blame for the mistakes and the losses. When challenges were presented, when losses were realised, Bob stepped forward and accepted the responsibility. He demonstrated that in times of challenge and times of crisis, great leaders stand up when it counts, and do not shirk their responsibility.
• He constantly sought opportunities to serve – through his engagement with his people, he focussed on how he could add value to them and how he could serve them, and not the other way round. He constantly demonstrated the famous Zig Ziglar philosophy of ‘if you help other people to get what they want, you will always be taken care of’.
I am so grateful to Bob for the lessons around leadership he taught me, and the more I continue to develop and stretch my own leadership muscle, the more I realise that, as a Leader, leadership is actually not about you – it must be about others, and how we can serve others and create an environment where success can not only become inevitable, but also sustainable.
To your leadership success.
Darren
Thank you for taking the time to read this post – I greatly appreciate it, and welcome comments and feedback. Please feel free to comment below, to follow me on LinkedIn, or to connect via Twitter or Facebook.
About : Darren is an Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant, Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker. A passionate and driven individual specialising in personal development, strategic planning, coaching for advocacy & enhanced performance, situational and servant based leadership, executive coaching of people leaders, emerging leaders and ‘high potential’ individual contributors within the Enterprise & Government market, personal change management, and strategic workshop facilitation & training.
