The leadership style was outmoded.  Leadership was “caretaking” rather than proactive, both at the level of business strategy and in how we worked together.  The effects could be felt throughout the company.  ~Julie Straw, Mark Scullard, Susie Kukkonen, Barry Davis (The Work of Leaders)

Leadership was “caretaking.”  I’ve run across several leaders recently whose leadership paradigm is heavily focused on “caretaking” or some use the phrase “providing support.”  I believe the four authors of The Work of Leaders are not suggesting that caretaking or providing support should be excluded from leadership, but that it should not be the sole focus of leadership.

The authors contrast caretaking with being proactive with business strategy and how people work together.  I see more and more leaders being proactive around business strategy but not nearly as many being proactive around how people work together.  I’ve even seen some leaders outright avoid being proactive about how people work together.

In The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni distinguishes between a smart and a healthy organization.  A smart organization has great strategy, marketing, finance, and technology.  A healthy organization has minimal politics, minimal confusion, high morale, high productivity, and low turnover.  Sounds like smart organizations have proactive business strategy and healthy organizations are proactive about how people work together.

Think about your own organization.  In the past year, what level of resources (time, money, personnel, etc.) have been invested in your business strategy (being smart) and what resources have been invested in how people work together (being healthy)?  I’m going to guess that more resources have been invested in being smart; however, at the same time there is concern about being able to sustain success over a long period of time.

As individuals, if we are smart we can probably achieve short term success, but if we’re healthy, we are far more likely to be able to sustain that success well into the future.

Some leaders hold the position that they aren’t in control of their organization’s health, as defined by Lencioni, – it just “is.”  Things like high morale, productivity, low turnover, just happen; leaders have little influence over these key organizational attributes.  To me, that’s like saying I have no control over my health and it doesn’t matter what I choose to eat or how much I exercise.  Sure, part of my health is genetic, out of my control; but the vast majority of my health and quality of life can be influenced by my proactive choices.  I can invest in my health.

Here we are, December 1 already.  As 2016 quickly approaches what investments should your organization (or you personally) make in how people work together?  Legendary business leader Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning.  Keeping together is progress.  Working together is success.”