The Hip Pocket Model – There’s More!
In the last article we examined the Leadership Circle model by asking Five Big Questions that lead to positive, generative leadership behaviors and improved business outcomes.
If it sounded a bit too good to be true, your instinct is correct. There is a whole other side to the circle, the bottom Reactive half. Reactive behaviors are strengths until they are not.
A good illustration of this comes to mind when I think of a former boss. He was ex-military and much of his identity and way was “command and control.” No big surprise, this was how he was trained, conditioned, and taught how to get things done and it worked well . . . . in the army. He climbed the career ladder and attained the rank of Commanding Officer, with thousands of men under his charge. He valued belonging and regimental pride, high compliance and following of orders and exceptional standards of perfectionism. Think about any person you might know with a military background, and you will likely see similar patterns.
These are all great strengths, until they are not. The over-use of a strength turns it into a liability. There’s is a tendency to stay there because that strength defines us. It becomes our default, our modus operandi. Without us even knowing, it become the way we respond when there is a threat or a change. In the language of the Leadership Circle, these are the Reactive tendencies.
Reactive tendencies are located at the bottom half of the Leadership Circle are categorized in three primary forms: Complying, Protecting and Controlling.
For years my boss ran the company as if it were a military battalion. He barked orders, created a culture of fear, and caused an extremely high level of attrition. The conversations that needed to happen about culture and retention never happened. People were too scared.
As an internal senior executive reporting directly to him, I made it my mission to chip away at building a better culture and a better relationship with him. It took a painfully long time. I leaned on my own courageous authenticity to help him see the consequences of his words and actions. It was not a linear path and there was a lot of “choose your moments” to speak up or remain silent.
Reflecting on this, if I knew then what I know now about the Leadership Circle Profile, it would have proven a tremendous catalyst for courage and creating a more feedback rich culture across the organization. However, we do the best with the tools we have at the time.
When I left to immigrate to the US, he wrote me the most heartfelt, moving letter in true military form, saying “if I had to choose a man to cover my back in a hostile situation, it would be you.”
Stuck in Controlling, he never knew to venture to the upper Relating side of the circle until it was too late. The positive for me, was the growth in me and working on the ability to challenge the status quo. It also gave me a raft of stories and examples that I draw upon to this day.