You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
very old saying
Anthropologists’ findings have been an interesting contribution to leadership theory. Researching prestige and dominance, a consistent pattern of social hierarchy for leaders emerged. In studies ranging from hunter-gatherers in the Andaman Islands to the aborigines in Australia to the Semai people of Malaysia, to other cultures. In cultures with leaders with prestige, the culture was able to change for the better.
With dominant leader patterns, leader characteristics are ego-centrism, and self-aggrandizement. Leader behaviors include aggression, intimidation and manipulation. “Moving up” is often the goal, leading to fierce rivalry and competition with a win-lose dynamic. Like authoritarian leadership, this style is considered “toxic” in most situations. Deference is demanded and rewarded.
With prestige leader patterns, prestige is based on pro-social, generous and cooperative actions. Respect, liking, and the creation of authentic and lasting relationships with group / team members is the norm. Deference to the leader is freely given. People who use prestige techniques are voluntarily followed, and often become informal leaders in counterpoint to formal dominant leaders.
Key personal traits of prestige leaders include
* generosity
* openness
* information sharing
* empathy
* humility
REFLECT:
Assess yourself on these characteristics on a 1-10
Because prestige leaders are models and are mimicked, their cultures can change for the better. Increasing positive behaviors – like being humble and self-deprecating, listening actively to learn from others, and explaining ideas thoroughly and allowing group members to execute them with flexibility and judgment – leads to a more congenial culture and a more productive one. A double win.
REFLECT:
Have you ever had a prestige leader?
How were their actions different from other leaders?
In an unusual application of this concept, research was done on leaders in high-altitude mountaineering. Data was collected from over 30,625 Himalayan climbers from 56 nations on over 5,100 expeditions. The question being studied was: “Do dominance hierarchies lead to a higher probability of disaster?”
The answer was yes. Teams from more hierarchal nations had the most problems. Those team members were the least likely to speak up or alert leaders to changing conditions and impending problems. The results were often dire / deadly.
One highly visible and thoroughly studied leader was Rob Hall, an experienced climber who had summited Everest a record five times. He had led three successful Everest missions and 19 clients to the summit, with no fatalities. He always prioritized safety over summits, once turning clients back from a summit attempt due to hazardous conditions.
Yet Rob died on Everest in 1996 along with four others of his climbing party. The conditions that day claimed eight lives total and was the deadliest day in Everest’s recorded history.
A Harvard Business Review article discusses possible causes for the disaster. It states Rob was not dominant by nature, but he believed a dominant style was appropriate for this climb – one of the most challenging climbs of his career. His anxiety-ridden team was facing extreme volatility in the “Death Zone” of the climb. He directed the team to follow his directives and NOT to voice any dissenting views during the final push to the summit. The team obeyed, and many of them perished. While this cannot be determined to be the sole cause for the disaster, it was put forth as a deciding factor.
I’m not totally comfortable with Harvard accepting an article on Rob Hall as a dominant and therefore dangerous leader on this climb. It feels like research gone awry. The same day, on different climbing teams, three other people died. Where’s the research on those teams’ leaders? Were they dominant? Would group input have saved their team members’ lives?
As a former white water river runner with experience on nearly every Wild and Scenic River in the US, I have seen mysterious perplexing baffling things happen – like boats flipping on minor sheer lines or rafts gliding placidly atop cresting Class 10 rapids that are erupting in chaotic patterns. While it is important to reflect, to learn, to adjust, to improve, it’s equally important to allow for the mysterious and inscrutable
Apply:
Create a plan to expand your prestige.
High Stakes Decision Making: The Lessons of Mount Everest, Michael A. Roberto, Working Knowledge, Aug 26, 2002
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster, John Krakaueret al, 1995.
Everest (movie), William Nicholson, 2015.
APPLY:
Create a strategy to
* use your existing power effectively
* expand your power with increased expertise
