As with all the other posts about these practices I will attempt to look at them through the lens of leadership in the sector I know best - local government.
And while I would argue there are leaders at every level of a municipal organization I will focus primarily on the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). Those who know our industry will know of this role very well. We are all likely in agreement that the CAO role is one where relationships are the most pivotal factor for having success and there are a myriad of different relationships from which to manage. Therefore this practice should be one where a CAO would get a lot of benefit but in my experience there are not enough CAOs that can call this a strength unfortunately. I'll explain...
The CAO is hired by an elected Council and becomes their one and only "employee". Council, as an elected body, is responsible for setting overall direction for a municipality in the form of a strategic plan, bylaws and the approval of high level guiding documents such as a Municipal Development Plan. Their role is one of the highest level of governance and they are guided by a Provincial Act that clearly establishes that role as one of direction to administration only through their one employee - the CAO. This is a good thing for all but does have some drawbacks for the relationships I have mentioned.
There is a saying in our sector that a "CAO is hired to be fired." We all know it and we all see it. The average length of tenure in one municipality for a CAO is much shorter than any career in leadership in other sectors. A newly elected Council quite often wants to hire "their person" over inheriting an already established CAO. This way they feel their aspirations and ideas for their term will not come into conflict with what the last CAO had in mind from the previous Council. While unfortunate and often, in my opinion, unnecessary, it happens all too often.
Where this comes into conflict with the practice of "Depend on Others" is that CAOs often place a lot of emphasis on their relationship with just Council. And while there is definitely legitimacy to this "strategy" given the nature of their relationship as described earlier, it takes away from other critical relationships. The CAO should depend on their executive team, other key leaders in the organization, to ensure the overall success of the municipality and the organization, which in the end would also benefit that relationship with Council.
What I have also seen happen is that CAOs can fall into the trap of being way too involved at levels of the organization they should not, in an attempt to demonstrate to their Council that they are "on it". The team around the CAO should be where the CAO should be demonstrating that trust and depend on others. In doing so the CAO's attention can then be directed at true leadership worries like organizational health, building more leaders, service excellence, values. This is why who the CAO hires as their executive team is critical. They need to be people the CAO knows they can depend on and this often comes down to trust and values not necessarily technical aptitude.
Here are a few suggested ways to enhance this ability to depend on others:
- Leaders need to err on the side of focusing on coaching, empowering and listening to others.
Perhaps CAOs can actively support things like mentorship roles throughout the organization? Look for opportunities to create teams that cross the whole organization at all different levels.
- Notice when you are resisting the urge to depend on others and embrace interdependency.
We have all said to ourselves at some point "it's just easier of I do it myself" - right? At that time we need to ask ourselves what the opportunity cost of doing this is. We are likely not trusting someone else to help us out. If given the chance they might just succeed, and if not we have created a learning experience in many different ways.
- Take time for yourself to have intention around relationships. Be aware.
Always have time to "debrief" yourself. Learn from all interactions with people. Where can I depend on others. Where can I create an opportunity for someone else to succeed?
- Ask yourself "Who depends on me?" and "How do I depend on others?"
- Use any information you have on others' leadership styles and ensure you make space for their strengths to be realized.
- Cultivate psychological safety (space for everyone to contribute positively), structure and clarity (formalized whenever possible), dependability (be there, listen, be relatable/vulnerable), meaning and impact (be laser focused on vision, values and reason).
- Use meetings as a tool to enhance mindfulness among the team plus as a place for collaboration, cooperation and support.
I would never suggest that doing all these things will ensure a CAO never gets fired. Unfortunately this seems to be the case at times in a political environment. Change for change sake. However, the CAO is hired to lead a successful organization and their ability to do so would be enhanced if they could make strides in depending on those around them in a more proficient way. Of this I am convinced.
