Leadership and Management in the 21st Century: There, There

Leadership and Management in the 21st Century: There, There

By David Tiplady: Head of Commercial, Vodaphone Automotive

In this second of six monthly articles I make light hearted comment on compassionate management in our current times.

Last month, while considering the current relationship between success and leadership, I wrote that I am part of a team of Vodafone colleagues attempting to row across the Atlantic. In fact, there are two teams from Vodafone entered into this challenge. Nautical rules require that every vessel must have a skipper. In one Vodafone team, everyone professes to want this position. In the other each is reticent. In either case, is the person identified as “Skipper” really to be the crew’s leader or a paper tiger for compliance with the rules? Or, could that be the resentful thought of someone who wanted to lead but wasn’t the best person for the job? Do we all aspire to leadership, or at least the trappings commonly associated with it; recognition, adoration, sex – notoriety, respect, wealth?

How do we deal with this situation? We have less than 18 months to figure it out. Everyone we speak to about the challenge, will ask “How is the training going?”. On the face of it, rowing across the Atlantic is a significant physical challenge. However, the greater challenge is understanding crew dynamics and this is far more difficult to achieve than becoming physically fit for purpose. The solution to physical issues is straight forward. In most cases the answer is to hit the gym. The solution to issues of leadership is not so easily found.

Do the principles of compassionate management hold an answer for us? Or is it another management buzz-word creating a new definition of the word compassion and a purposeless distinction from empathy? What are sympathy, empathy and compassion in any case?

For me, sympathy is when you know someone is upset but have no idea why. We have all experienced this. This is “The Footballer”. The best response anyone can have in this situation is “There, There”. Whenever anyone says “There, There” you can be sure they’re saying actually “I have no idea why you just leapt to the floor, grabbed your ankle and started screaming but I wish you’d stop”.

Empathy appears more powerful. This is “The Cyclist”. Cyclists are totally different to footballers when it comes to giving away information about their physical condition. Good or bad, they do not want anyone else to know. Cyclists are finely tuned to pick up any sign of weakness, or strength, in those that they are riding with. Any and all information is used to their own, or team’s, advantage. Nourishing the seed of doubt in a competitor, crushing an opponent with the gentlest of touches or tucking in behind someone feeling strong, understanding how your fellow cyclists are feeling is critical to achieve the ultimate sensation of schadenfreude which, if you’re not going to win the race – and let’s face it, there’s only one rider that will win – is the next best thing.

The compassionate manager is seen to empathise with “enlightened self-interest”. Nothing in business ever being for nothing. That is to say, recognising that crushing those around you might not always be the optimum strategy.

Will we be rowing team of compassionate managers or a team of cyclists or footballers? Will we be able to survive constant two hour shifts of row and rest exchanging the occasional “There, There”? Will we compete amongst ourselves to be the best individual rower to earn the badge of skipper? Or, will we be able to understand, even pre-empt, each other’s needs? Who would you prefer to row 3,000 miles with?

David runs the Commercial Department in Vodafone Automotive. He gained his MBA from Henley in 2002. Since then he has enjoyed several management positions in organisations creating technology solutions and competing in amateur endurance sport. He is a qualified Triathlon coach. Before this year, he had never rowed.