Taking the Deliberate Detour

I once co-conducted a leadership program in which we posted on flipcharts a number of quotes about leadership. One of the quotes was from Michael Useem: “Leadership matters most when it is least clear what course should be followed.”

Of course, for the performance improviser, this is the only context in which leadership can occur, since any direction is available for following at any given moment in the scene. And I’m sure that, in the current world of continual change, the Daily Improviser increasingly feels this sense of infinite forks-in-the-road as well.

In this particular class, though, one participant threw me for a bit of a loop by observing: “I think leadership is more difficult when the way forward does seem clear.”

She elaborated by pointing out that, when a team has jelled and seems to be working smoothly together, it’s very easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency. The environment may change, opportunities may present themselves, new doors may be available for opening – but the well-oiled machine of a team may find it difficult to deliberately deflect themselves from their comfortable path. Innovation, the ability to rise to challenges, and resilience can be the casualties.

In this situation, the leader can become just as lulled as the rest of the team – a classic case of Groupthink. As the participant pointed out, the leader’s task becomes more difficult because she first has to recognize her own comfort and then justify to the rest of the team why they should look for ways to pull themselves out of their comfortable niches.

The Daily Improviser needs to be aware that, when the road is smooth and straight, it may be time to jump off the path and begin to blaze a new trail.