The ladder is not really a ladder

Last week I bumped into a former workout buddy at the gym. I hadn’t seen him in a while and took the opportunity to catch up.

He recently sold his home in East Grand Rapids (Michigan) and moved to his cottage on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. I reflected, “Wow, that is a big change.” To which he said, “My wife and I were wanting to see sunsets over the lake in the evening all year round. Living full-time at the cottage just made a lot of sense.”

After a pause, he went on to say “I can’t believe that at one time I had three homes. One in East, our cottage in Muskegon, and a condo in Naples (Florida.) I wore a suit every day and climbed the corporate ladder, doing what I thought you were supposed to do. How did I manage it all?’

I said, “I bet that took a lot of energy, both mentally and physically…and not necessarily giving you a lot of positive energy in return.” “Totally!’” he exclaimed.

Off the cuff, I said “the corporate ladder isn't really a ladder after all.” “No, it’s not, it’s a handcuff”, he added.

He’s right. If we’re honest with ourselves, the ladder can be a handcuff…perhaps more often than we realize or care to admit.

Earlier this year I stepped down as CEO and began my journey as Co-CEO with Noele Stith, my fellow partner and future CEO of Design Group International. Our journey as Co-CEOs creates space to work through the four major components of a successful leadership transition and succession process. Components we learned from our founder Mark L. Vincent and his work in developing Maestro-level Leader.

(If you’d like to learn more about these four components, please feel free to call Sarah Harstad. Sarah directs Maestro-level Leader, Design Group International’s practice area that focuses on this important leadership journey.)

At the center of our Co-CEOship is the concept of sharing power. Often as we ascend the corporate ladder (remember it can be a handcuff) we are given power along the way in the form of title, privilege, compensation, responsibility, and decision making.

As we ascend, we also have the opportunity to create and implement something that is new and better (see Ed and Peter Schein’s definition of leadership.) These opportunities are awesome and wonderful. And, if we are not careful, they create space for more power to be added, given, or grabbed along the way.

We may not even now that this is happening and are blind to the power we hold. Make no mistake, this is what can happen and it often does.

In an extreme capitalist culture, power and the ladder are inextricably linked. Let’s not act like they are not. We must actively push back against these forces in order to remain humble, open, and have trusting relationships with others.

We get used to having things done the way we want them. Our ears begin to close. Our mouths open and speak more often. Our blind spots get bigger and bigger. The handcuff becomes stronger and stronger.

Again, we may not even recognize that this is happening, believing that we are doing well, what is expected, even desired. Go you! And, the handcuff does remain.

When we share power we create opportunity to unlock and take off this handcuff. We have the opportunity to place our hand in someone else’s hand. In doing so, we push back against the accumulation of power, authority, and decision making.

When we share power, we also create opportunities to learn.

Let’s admit it, you don’t know everything, no one does. We can learn a lot from someone when we share power with them. We have the opportunity listen to them, to learn their wisdom, and gain their insight.

By definition, another person has a different perspective, a different context, a different way of doing things. So much for us to learn!

Any transition, including my transition to Co-CEO and eventually not being any form of CEO, can create fear. Fear of the unknown, fear in losing power, fear of change.

Don’t be surprised when you get fearful, fragile, or even panic. You are human and these feelings are a natural part of being human. Our tendency will be to grab power back, get back on the ladder, and keep climbing. When this happens learning shuts down, our ears close, and our mouths reopen.

In this moment, perhaps what can be most helpful is EXHALE. WAIT. BE STILL.

 

When you sense power coming back towards you, open your ears and pose a question. Any open-ended question will do. Even a simple question like “What are you seeing ahead of us in this moment?” “What do you believe we should do next?” or “I’d appreciate learning your perspective on what is happening. Can you share it with me?”

In listening to their response, quiet the impulse to do something and take back the reigns. Asking, “Can you tell me more?” is perhaps the humblest question there is. It draws the other person into the conversation even further, creates opportunity for mutual learning, creativity, and innovation.

If climbing the ladder is not really what we are after, it does beg a bigger more powerful question.

At the end of the day, “What is it you are really wanting to do with the gifts you have been given?” or “What is it you are really about in your life and leadership?” are questions of true purpose and calling and are very important for all of us to ask and answer.

Remember the ladder really isn't a ladder after all.

Mind how you go.

Lon

Lon L. Swartzentruber

Design Group International

Co-CEO & Senior Design Partner 

If you’d like to go deeper in your leadership style, please schedule a call. I’d be honored to listen and learn more about your journey as a leader and where you’d like to go next.

Along with a notebook and my favorite fountain pen, what’s in my backpack?

Teaming, by Amy Edmondson

Almost finished Humble Inquiry, 3^rd Edition by Peter and Ed Schein

Rereading The Essentials of Theory U, by C. Otto Scharmer