Driving home on Thursday morning, I had tears in my eyes. I was listening to Kevin Rudd's last speech after being ruthlessly deposed by Julia Gillard.
This is not a political article, about the rights and wrong of how it was done. I'm more interested in the lessons we can, as leaders, learn.
Listening to Kevin, hearing the long pauses, almost sobs, whether you liked the man or not, you couldn't help not being moved by it.
And it's ironic that we learned more about Kevin in his last 15 minute speech than over the whole of his prime ministership.
You have to wonder if he'd opened up more, been more inclusive, showed us who he really was as a human being, if he'd still be there.
But he didn't. And like many a leader before him, got deposed by his people.
So what are some of the lessons here...
There is a time to be autocratic and a time to be inclusive. Yes, sometimes circumstances demand that you take rapid action and you don't have time to widely consult first.
Going back in history, if British PM, Neville Chamberlain had stayed PM with his policy of appeasement with Hitler, the world would now be a very different place.
It took the autocrat Winston Churchill to rally the British, get the Americans on board and focus on winning the war. Backs were to the wall, and there was literally not a lot of time for discussion. But immediately after the war, Churchill was thrown out by a society wanting more inclusion from their leaders.
Fast forward to the GFC in 2008. Kevin made some fast decisions around his "Kitchen Table Cabinet". Decisions that may well have kept us out of recession.
But Kevin, as a leader has a fatal flaw. He kept appearing autocratic, unapproachable and cold. He forgot (or maybe just didn't know or care) that to successfully lead, you must bring people with you. He failed to open up and show his humanity.
And he paid dearly for it.
So if you're a leader in your organisation, how do you make sure you don't fall into these traps?
The first thing is to allow people to get to know who you are - really are.
We all wear masks. We're all afraid of begin hurt, ridiculed, "being found out". But if there's one thing I've learnt over the years, it's show yourself, some of your vulnerabilities, your flaws, your hopes and your disappointments.
Let people in. Tell them the stories of your life. Let them learn how you became you. It allows them to relate to you as a fellow human being.
Learn when it's necessary to be relatively autocratic and when to be inclusive.
If the building's burning down, is a good time for the former. You don't need a committee meeting to decide to evacuate!
But if your sales are down, competitors are knocking on the door and you look like you're going to be in for one hell of a fight for survival, I strongly suggest getting input from a wide "cabinet".
And don't just involve your senior management team. Many of the best ideas will come from your shop floor workers. They're the ones who do the stuff day in and day out and can come up with amazing ideas and innovations if only given half a chance.
The tragedy is most senior managers are too proud to listen to them.
And once you've got the input, make a decision and act on it.
You're the leader. Your people (and that includes your family) are depending on you. Ultimately the buck stops with you. So take responsibility and lead.
Rashid.
P.S. I've worked with a great many business owners and managers to improve their leadership skills. If you'd like to know more about how you can get better results through business coaching, call me on (02) 9499-7958 for a confidential discussion.
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