Monday, November 16, 2009

A View From the Cheap Seats

One of my favorite movies is “Eddie,” a comedy staring Whoopi Goldberg. The movie is not deep. It won no Academy Awards. It’s just funny and makes me laugh. It also offers some important lessons on leadership. Eddie is a Knicks fan. No, actually, she’s a Knicks fanatic. A limo driver by profession, she can barely afford the price of admission to a single game. But each night Eddie heads to Madison Square Garden, where she and her friends have season tickets in the “cheap seats.” A loud and obnoxious bunch, they support their team by hurling free advice and coaching from 200 rows above center court.

One day, as only could happen in the movies, Eddie makes a chance basket in a free throw contest and finds herself on the bench as the new head coach. From her front row seat, Eddie learns what it really takes to win the game. Finding herself seated side by side with real players with real problems, she is forced to give up her preconceived notion of the ease of their luxurious lives and listen to their travails. She learns what they really face each time they go out on the court, the physical and emotional injuries they must overcome, and the personal problems that they experience as young men thrown into the limelight. As she gets to know her team they get to know her too. And, as they do, she becomes more and more credible.

As for the rest of the story, you’ll have to rent the movie. But I often wonder, when I walk through the extravagantly decorated offices of our executive floors, if, regardless of their luxury, these aren’t in fact, like the cheap seats. Sitting in these offices, far removed from the day-to-day travails of our employees, can we ever truly see the issues that limit their success or understand the challenges they face each day in getting work done? Are we able to really appreciate what it takes to achieve things without the benefit of executive assistants and other services aimed at making everyday obstacles disappear? If we can’t, how can we ever assume to be credible? And how can we ever tap into the opportunities hidden in roadblocks we never knew existed?

So, here is the challenge to those of us willing to take it. For one full week, let’s move out of our seats in the nosebleed section and come down to the field and play. Let’s give up the support and luxuries typically awarded us and walk a while in our employee’s shoes. At a minimum, our people will love us for it. At best we may never lead the same way again.

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world” – John LeCarre

No comments: