LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION.
At the Core of Human Experience Leadership attracts universal attention. Historians, philosophers, and
social scientists have attempted to understand and to explain leadership for centuries. From Confucius to Plato to Machiavelli, many of the world’s most renowned thinkers have theorized about how people lead one another.1 One reason for the fascination with this subject lies in the very nature of human experience. Leadership is all around us. We get up in the morning, open the newspaper, turn on our computer, radio, or television, and discover what actions leaders all over the world have taken. We attend classes, work, and interact in social groups—all with their own distinct patterns of leadership. Our daily experiences with leadership are not that different from the experi- ences of individuals in other cultures. Leadership is an integral part of human life in rural tribal cultures as well as in modern industrialized nations. Looking at your past leadership efforts can help to provide a good starting point for understanding why the success of leadership often varies so significantly. Iden- tify your own best and worst leadership moments and what you can learn from these experiences by completing the self-assessment exercise in box 1.1.
Followers prosper under effective leaders and suffer under ineffective lead- ers whatever the context: government, corporation, church or synagogue, school, athletic team, or class project group. The study of leadership, then, is more than academic. Understanding leadership has practical importance for all of us. (See the case study in box 1.2 for a dramatic example of how important leadership can be.) In this text we will examine leadership in a wide variety of situations. However, our perspective remains the same—leadership is best understood from a communication standpoint. As Gail Fairhurst and Robert Sarr explain, effective leaders use language as their most tangible tool for achieving desired outcomes.2 Let’s begin our exploration of leadership by con- sidering the special nature of human communication and the unique qualities of leadership.
Defining Leadership As we have noted, leadership is a fundamental element of the human con-
dition. Wherever society exists, leadership exists. Any definition of leadership must account for its universal nature. Leadership seems to be linked to what it means to be human. As communication specialists, we believe that what makes us unique as humans is our ability to create and manipulate symbols.
I take leadership to signify the act of making a difference. —Michael Useem
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Leadership and Communication 3
Box 1.1 Self-Assessment Your Best and Worst Leadership Moment3
Everyone has enjoyed leadership success at some point. At some time—whether in high school, college, on the athletic field, in a community or religious group, or at work—we have all made things happen through other people. We have all been leaders. Looking back over your life, what is the experience that you are most proud of as a leader? Use the space below to capture the details of that moment.
Just as all of us have enjoyed success, we’ve also experienced the pain of leadership failure. Learning to be a leader requires looking back and learning from past mistakes so that you don’t repeat errors. What was your most disappointing experience as a leader? Record your thoughts in the space below.
Given the best and worst leadership experiences you identified, consider the lessons you have learned about leadership in the past. In working through this assessment it can be very helpful to share your leadership stories with others so that you have a richer set of examples from which to compile a list of leadership lessons. The lessons learned from past leadership experiences might be things like: It is difficult to succeed as a leader when followers are not motivated; leadership works best when you have a clear sense of direction; or a leader must be sure his or her message is under- stood to ensure followers stay involved. Try to identify 10 leadership lessons your experiences (and, if possible, those of others) have provided.
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4 Chapter One
Box 1.2 Case Study Death and Heroism on the Savage Mountain4
Mountaineers call K2 the Savage Mountain. The world’s second tallest peak, K2 claims a greater percentage of climbers (1 in 3) than Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest mountain (1 in 10). Fewer than 300 climbers have topped K2 as compared to over 3,000 on Mt. Everest. The Savage Mountain is not only steeper and harder to climb than Mt. Everest; its location further north makes it even more susceptible to bad weather. There are only a few days when high winds and snow abate, allowing climbers to attempt to reach the summit at over 27,000 feet.
In summer 2008, ten expeditions made up of members from Serbia, the United States, France, South Korea, the Netherlands, Italy, Nepal, and Pakistan huddled in their small tents at the high- est camp on K2 waiting for the weather to break. Because so many people were on the mountain, team leaders knew they had to coordinate their efforts, particularly to navigate the Bottleneck. The Bottleneck is a narrow, sheer section of trail that requires climbers to go single file. At the Bot- tleneck, a slow climber can delay all those who follow. Team leaders agreed that on the day of the summit one group would go first and lay out ropes for the other teams to use as they ascended and descended the Bottleneck. Another group would put willow wands in the snow to mark the path back to camp.
On August 1 the weather cleared and 20 climbers launched their mass assault on the summit. Problems arose almost immediately. The lead team didn’t have enough rope and started to lay rope too soon so that there wasn’t enough to reach the top of the Bottleneck. The wands weren’t planted. The only climber to have previously made it to the top took sick and couldn’t summit. Some groups were slow to start and, as feared, a cluster of climbers got stuck below the Bottle- neck, waiting to ascend. A Serbian fell to his death during the initial ascent and another climber died while trying to retrieve his body.
Descending in darkness is highly dangerous, as is bivouacking at 27,000 feet without shelter in intense cold. To avoid these dangers, climbers should have turned back by 2 PM. Instead, most pressed on to the top, not reaching their goal until much later. Eighteen reached the top—a K2 record—with the last team arriving at 7 PM. As a result, some decided to stop for the night while others made their way back down the mountain. That’s when disaster struck. A huge overhang- ing piece of ice broke off. Tumbling through the Bottleneck, it buried one climber and scoured away the ropes. Subsequent icefalls and avalanches, as well as the elements, disorientation, and deadly climbing conditions, would take additional lives. The total death toll was 11, making this one of the worst mountaineering disasters ever.
While nothing could have prevented the huge icefall, the loss of life was greater than it should have been. To begin, members of the various expeditions never bonded but instead remained strangers. They had difficulty communicating with each other because of language differences and operated independently. Members of some teams were highly critical of the preparation and skills of those on other teams. This apparently contributed to a disregard for human life when the crisis struck. Far too many ignored those in need, failing to offer assistance to those likely to per- ish. According to a Dutch survivor, “Everybody was fighting for himself and I still do not under- stand why everybody were leaving each other.”
Summit fever drove many to continue to climb when they should have turned back, putting them at high risk. So close to reaching their goal, they feared that they would never have another chance to reach their objective. Some had corporate sponsors and felt additional pressure to sum- mit. The high altitude porters had an incentive to support their efforts because they would earn a $1000 bonus if their clients succeeded. Those on the mountain also became too dependent on the ropes, even though the peak can be successfully climbed without them. In fact, the first climber to summit and successfully descend that day did so using only his personal alpine gear.
Sherpa are often overlooked in tales of mountaineering, which focus on the exploits of Euro- pean and North American alpinists. However, Sherpa climbers earned international recognition as the heroes of the K2 disaster. Pemba Sherpa repeatedly left the safety of camp to assist
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