Donald looked out of his 17th floor office window in despair. It had been a rough six months for his company, and he had run out of options. Well, not that he had explored many options to begin with, but he trusted his methods and they had always worked. He was the best business development executive in his region and the company had recorded many successes under his leadership. He was also in charge of his department where he oversaw 50 staff, but he didn’t know most of his subordinates.
They rarely had departmental meetings and seriously, he thought that was too much of a bother. He did not have the patience or emotional bandwidth to engage that number of people at once. He did not want to be accused of shouting or talking down at them, so he just avoided meetings. Instructions were simply issued via email to the staff, and everything was dealt with on the mail trail.
John had joined the company as an intern 2 years prior to this time. He was an intelligent proactive guy who had a lot of value to offer. He was self-driven and able to work well with very little supervision. He got on well with his seniors and contemporaries alike, as he was easily approachable and ready to help.
John worked under Donald, and he often saw how much his boss struggled even though he often kept a brave facade externally. Donald’s brilliance was legendary, and it had been his dream to work with him; he’d been so excited when he got the internship position. However, since his resumption there he’d only interacted with Donald twice, as he would get to learn that Donald was more comfortable with mails than in-person meetings.
Donald remembered an executive leadership retreat his company had held a year earlier where they had been encouraged to ask for help as leaders, and how strong people ask for help. He did not really agree with the training consultant because to him, generating answers was the job of the leader. It would sound somehow that the bright ideas came from someone else especially since he was the head. He decided to give the advice a try and send for one of the young executives that worked under him.
John was shocked when he received the short, terse mail. “See me in my office now. D.” His mind started racing and double-checking his work as the elevator ascended quietly to the 17th floor. Donald’s secretary showed him in and even though he was nervous, he took in the beautiful ambience of the office as well as the breath-taking view. His boss walked toward him and held out his hand for a firm handshake. “Okay, things had started off rather well” he thought to himself.
“I invited you here for a brainstorming session. You are aware of the challenges we have had since the start of the year and I’d like to hear your ideas on how we can move ahead”, Donald said. John could not believe his ears but kept his calm as he listened to the different options that Donald had tried. He could easily pick out the flaws in the strategies but waited for his boss to finish.
Since his boss had given him permission to speak freely, he methodically deconstructed the strategies and proferred new alternative solutions that he thought would work. As he spoke, Donald connected the dots and could see how John’s solutions could work. He could not believe that he had been sitting on this talent all this while and he just wondered what else his other subordinates had to offer.
Over the next six months, the company seemed to take on a new lease of life as John’s ideas were implemented. Donald started holding regular brainstorming sessions with his staff whose morale was at an all-time high as contributions were acknowledged and implemented. Donald also had more time for family and leisure as he delegated more and supervised. He finally understood that leadership was not about having the brightest ideas, but about creating the right environment for bringing the best out of other people.
