The one where people got together to shape how leaders should be
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams
Google the word ‘leadership’ and in less than a second there are over 4.8 billion potential results to choose from. It crosses all aspects of our lives, from the political landscape, our work, sport, through to how we lead ourselves. There is no doubt on it’s importance and research continues to tell us why. A study by the American Psychological Association, cited by McKinsey and HBR, showed that 75% of respondents in their survey said an immediate superior is the most stressful part of their job.
Tony Robbin’s definition of leadership “is to influence, inspire and help others become their best selves, building their skills and achieving goals along the way”, and many other definitions follow a similar line. If this is the case, then surely it’s as important to understand how people would like to be lead so they can be the best they can be?
We spent some time with a group of people exploring leadership and used the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology to understand their experience and perspective.
Every LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop starts with the warm-up to ready all participants in ways to put LEGO® bricks together, using metaphor and telling a story through their model. The group quickly grasped the many connections that can be made using LEGO® bricks and, as part of the storytelling aspect of the warm-up, built a model that represented the worst leader they have had. We prefer to adopt a more appreciative inquiry stance when designing the questions for participants to answer through their builds, but in this case, we wanted the team to connect with how they felt when leadership was at it’s worst. The discussion that resulted, as people shared what their model represented, was insightful.
One individual talked about a ‘boss’ that always got someone else to deliver the bad messages, not owning their decisions. They also shared how their grandmother was relied upon for advice and mentorship when the manager had been disrespectful. The work environment provided little support to help this person grow.
Another person built a large wall with their manager clearly looking down as if they were more superior. They shared that they always had felt shackled by this supposed leader, represented by the handcuffs. Coins on top of the wall cleverly showed that their boss was more interested in making money than caring for the team.
A further model used a shark and alligator to show how aggressive their leader tended to be. They also used wheels to demonstrate how ‘the wheels had fallen off the bus’ whilst this person was in charge. Ladders and tubes, not connected to anything, showed how this manager did not support any career development.
Within the space of 45 mins the group were sharing their experience and feelings about challenging times in their working lives. We continued the discussion for longer as individuals talked more broadly about how this changed their perspective on the organisation, type of work they wanted to do and impact on them as human beings.
Individuals were then asked to build a model that represented the qualities they would expect in a great leader. As they described their LEGO® builds, a flag was placed on the most important aspect of the model for that person.
Common themes emerged like transparency in communication, empowerment, and involvement. One person used the coloured bricks to represent diversity in teams and showed that good leadership involved protecting the team too. An alligator was used and physically placed between the leader and the team members. Another showed multiple cogs connected by a common thread – this was the leader, keeping everyone together and focused on a common goal.
It’s easy to cite the oft talked about attributes of exceptional leaders but the group were able to take it further, articulating what they would expect to see, hear, and feel if a leader was behaving in this way. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® allows participants to go deeper and explore more than surface level thinking. It also ensures that everyone has a voice. Although there was some commonality, each build included something different.
As we started the shared build, the significance of the flag, placed as the most important feature for each build, became apparent. A shared build allows a group of participants to build a model that represents their collective ideas. It is a good way for teams to, for example, define their shared values, build a team charter, or finalise an idea. In this case, the team set out to build a shared model that represented their view on great leadership.
People get to take apart other models and place them on a shared LEGO® baseplate. The only rule during this build is that you can only talk if touching the LEGO® bricks! Some aspects of the shared build include the use of additional LEGO® pieces as teams connect ideas and shape them into something new. At various stages during this process, a participant will recount the story of the model, explaining each part. The group can challenge, question and revisit to ensure that all interpret their shared build in the same way (and agree on it).
So what was this group’s perspective on great leadership?
Leadership is about mobilising the team and motivating them surrounding a goal – represented by the treasure chest. The cogs in the bottom right-hand corner showed how the leader should connect and use everyone’s strengths, being the common thread that points towards the goal. The animals meant distraction/danger for many of the participants so in their shared model they placed a fence in front of them. Leadership is about helping people overcome and remove blockers. Ladders and walkways represented the leaders responsibility to help their teams grow and develop (including career pathways). The tree and elephants on the left identified that a leader should create a safe space for honest discussion. Part of the tree was built using transparent blocks representing open communication. Finally, the circular elements and people in the middle of the model symbolised team and diversity.
The output of this discussion could be used to build development programmes for leaders, provide a platform for feedback or to define a recruitment approach. Regardless, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology, in about 2 hours, enabled a group of people to come together to build their perspectives on how leadership should be.
Visit www.prometheanplay.co.uk to see what this could mean for your organisation.
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