"Socrates or Sugar? Take me to your Leader",

As a professional coach and mentor I wish I had a tenner every time someone said to me during the recent series of The Apprentice; “So Paul, how would you coach these teams?” or “How would you coach someone whose boss is Alan Sugar?” or even ‘How would you coach Alan Sugar?” (usually I’d pretend I hadn’t heard the last one).

Well, firstly let me say that I really enjoyed The Apprentice and whilst on the one hand you could say it models bad management practice, on the other hand I think it’s an expertly crafted and written slab of primetime drama. No, its not fiction and yes the characters are real, but in its casting, use of characterisation, set, music and most importantly editing, it guides us through its chosen narrative in exactly the same way as a piece of fictional drama such as Eastenders or Rome.

What it does present us with is a beguiling mix of stereotypes and as with any good drama (whether on stage in the cinema or on TV) what I find more interesting is what it makes us think about. Beyond the simple cathartic (and indeed voyeuristic) pleasure of watching other people deal with stressful situations it raised questions for me about leadership: What do we really make of Alan Sugar? How do we think good leaders should behave? Who do we respect as leaders?

In his book Good to Great Jim Collins embarked on a major research project to discover what turns good companies into great ones – companies that out-performed all others over a substantial period of time. One of his key findings was what he described as “Level 5 Leaders” or rather a set of characteristics that was common amongst all the leaders of the great companies in his study:

“We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the type of leadership. Compared to high-profile leaders with big personalities who make headlines and become celebrities, the good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy – these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will, they are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar.”

I think we all know the type of high-profile leaders that Collins’ mentions – Alan Sugar, Alex Ferguson, Richard Branson, Rupert Murdoch, but how many do we know of the more self-effacing type? Clearly leaders in the mould of Sugar and Ferguson have been tremendously successful in their fields but Collins’ point was at heart to do with sustainability. The Level 5 leaders in his study were “driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results” but also constantly “attributed success to factors other than themselves” i.e. they weren’t feeding their own egos but rather doing whatever was needed to support and encourage those around them – a profound mixture of professional will and personal humility that was focussed on the sustainable long-term success of their organisations.

One of Scotland’s leading business journalists recently said to me that in his opinion there was only one Level 5 leader in Scotland – Sir Ian Wood. Apparently Wood had said that he felt his role, his job, was that of a psychologist (or coach) more than anything else. Collins’ study backs this up as does comments by Herb Kelleher, CEO of SouthWestern Airlines in the States who also maintains that his job “…is primarily that of a coach.”

When I’m working with leaders I’m keen to raise awareness of their impact on those around them, to pull back into a “mid-shot position” (to use a televisual analogy) and see what it is they need to do to ensure sustainable results in their business, and in addition to have a business where the employees are well rewarded with high levels of job satisfaction. If they want their organisation to both perform at its utmost and continue its success after they’ve moved on or retired, then will a short-term ego-driven approach achieve that? The evidence seems to suggest that it will not.

I see the development of empathy and compassion (not forgetting professional will and business drive) in our leaders as capable of providing great benefits, not only for their own health and that of their organisations but also for the health of society.

In the Tao of Leadership John Heider uses some examples of traditional wisdoms:

“The wise leader knows about pairs of opposites and their interactions. The leader knows how to be creative. In order to lead, the leader learns how to follow. In order to prosper, the leader learns to live simply. In both cases, it is the interaction that is creative. Being one-sided always produces unexpected and paradoxical results. Being well defended will not protect you; it will diminish your life and eventually kill you.”

I started writing this a couple of days before Alan Sugar announced he was selling Amstrad nearly 40 years after he founded it – apart from the consequences for future series of The Apprentice I wonder if we’ll hear of Amstrad again? Sugar says he’s going to continue in charge but how will he cope being part of someone else’s empire? Has he lined up his eventual successor? Does he want someone in his own mould or will he go for the more humble, less ego-driven type detailed by Collins’?

The key is sustainability – if Amstrad is going to be a thriving brand for the next 40 years how do you follow a guy like Alan Sugar? What sort of leaders do we want? What sort of leader are you? And what sort of leader would bring the best out of you?

Paul Pinson is the Director of bright-space – an executive coaching and development company working with individuals and teams. Over the last 20 years Paul has been working as an artist, businessman and creative leader. He has also worked as a business mentor for the last 6 years. He is a graduate of the Postgraduate course in Executive Coaching from Strathclyde University.

His experience as a creative leader over the last 20 years has involved him leading and inspiring disparate groups of people, both nationally and internationally, on journeys of discovery in the pursuit of a common goal. His belief in potential and his exploration into the human condition and its myriad stories feed into his dual current practice with bright-space and as leader of an international performing arts company creating extraordinary projects in unusual locations.
More information on Paul can be found here www.bright-space.com