Surviving The Revolt

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Every executive who wants to take over a company and reshape it knows that it's lonely at the top. But few realize that leading real change can also be dangerous. "People push back when you disturb the personal and institutional equilibrium they know," write Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, authors of Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading (Harvard Business School). "People resist in all kinds of creative and unexpected ways that can get you taken out of the game: pushed aside, undermined, or eliminated." The authors should know: the book draws on their combined half-century of consulting and teaching, mainly at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Although they have counseled many CEOs, the authors define leadership broadly to include political figures and even parents. "You disturb people when you take unpopular initiatives in your community, put provocative new ideas on the table in your organization, question the gap between colleagues' values and behavior, or ask friends and relatives to face up to tough realities," they write. "You risk people's ire and make yourself vulnerable. Exercising leadership can get you into a lot of trouble." The problem isn't just change; it's fear of loss. Says Heifetz: "People love change when they know it's a good thing. Nobody gives back the winning lottery ticket."

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The authors describe four basic pitfalls that leaders face: getting marginalized, diverted, attacked or seduced. When leaders are marginalized, the area of their jurisdiction is effectively reduced. For example, if an African-American executive is asked only about issues involving race, that person has been marginalized. Likewise, executives have found themselves diverted from their agenda by truckloads of nonessential work. Attacks can range from malicious gossip to — in the case of political leaders — assassination. Business leaders can be seduced in an attempt to please their allies rather than stay a difficult course.

The authors describe one way that leaders can keep their balance and perspective amid active resistance. They call it "getting off the dance floor and going to the balcony." The point is to figure out what is really going on. But you can't stay in that posture, they stress. "Staying on the balcony in a safe observer role is as much a prescription for ineffectuality as never achieving that perspective in the first place."

Another suggestion is for business leaders to "think politically." This advice is key to events such as downsizing. Say the authors: "People are willing to make sacrifices if they see the reason why. Indeed, boys go to war with the blessings of their parents to protect values more precious than life itself. So it becomes critically important to communicate in every way possible the reason to sacrifice." Acknowledge people's loss when they are making sacrifices at work, advise the authors. "Grieve with them and memorialize the loss. This might be done with a series of simple statements, but often requires something more tangible and public." One CEO of a factory even went to work on the line after an explosion killed two of his employees.

Linsky observes that leaders "do themselves in as often as they are done in by others." The authors caution that "with the adrenaline pumping, we can work ourselves into believing that we are somehow different, and therefore not subject to the normal human frailties that can defeat ordinary mortals on ordinary missions." Anchor yourself, say the authors, by distinguishing your role from your self, by keeping personal confidants (as distinguished from allies), by seeking emotional sanctuary and love, and by exercising and otherwise taking care of yourself, body and soul.