Viral Leadership
Ellen, a business owner in the service sector with a staff of 40 employees, was overwhelmed by my question: “What could you do to create momentum about the changes you want to see around here without spending money or taking people away from their jobs?”
The two of us were near the end of a long meeting on what she could do to improve her bottom line. The issues of falling revenue, customer dissatisfaction, aggressive competition and poor teamwork were welded together like sheet metal in a train wreck. She needed to turn her business results around in a hurry. The recession had taken a large bite out of her revenue, formerly loyal customers were defecting, and new competitors were slashing prices by offering a minimal-service model. Falling morale, fear of job loss and a lack of cooperation made coming to work each day an act of sheer will power. Of course Ellen had no budget for incentives, coaching or training seminars for her staff.
She had reached the limit of what is possible through command-and-control leadership. Ellen had issued memos, talked to staff, disciplined poor performers and tried to recognize her stars. These are some of the right actions, to be sure, but she did not get the right results. When she said in frustration, “I’ve done all I can. If we are going to get through this, people will have to do it for themselves!” I almost burst into applause. I told her that this insight was the first stage of climbing up the mountain of trust. Leaders can only point the way. Employees have to climb that mountain themselves. But how?
For leaders like Ellen, Viral Leadership can be a game-changer. Imagine an organization in which a culture of high trust, great teamwork and excellence in execution spreads to every employee, seemingly by itself, just a flu virus replicates itself and spreads through a community. Viruses can spread through host organisms with great speed. Unless a virus encounters anti-viral factors like a healthy immune system or a vaccine, it can easily take advantage of those with weak defenses. Flip this scenario over on its positive side: A strong virus can quickly overcome many obstacles and be very successful.
The expression ‘going viral’ was first used in the mid-90’s to describe the phenomenon of viral marketing via the Internet. Trends, opinions, expressions and fashions seemed to spread spontaneously around the globe. Today many large corporations go to great lengths to promote their products and services through viral marketing. In his successful U.S. presidential campaign Barack Obama used viral marketing via social networking sites to raise more funds than John McCain, who stuck to traditional fundraising appearances and media campaigns. Obama’s core message “Yes We Can” was everywhere, mostly as free messages in the news media including the Internet. Today ‘going viral’ means ‘spreading spontaneously on its own’.
But how exactly can a culture of high trust, great teamwork and excellence in execution spread to every employee, especially without massive incentives, focus groups, training and logistical support?
In his book “Viral Change”, Dr. Leandro Herrero tells the story of a new executive who made a series of relatively informal comments to staff members on where their business should be heading. These casual comments generated an avalanche of changes that ultimately improved the organization. When Herrero interviewed this executive a few months later and congratulated him for what it seemed like a ‘good change management program’, his reply was ‘what change program?’
Of course many leaders could make the same announcements and get nowhere. How can one leader make a few casual remarks that lead to significant change, while other leaders saying the same things are ignored?
Viral leadership works best in an atmosphere of shared meaningful values, high trust and deeply shared commitments. Everyone must be on the same page. How can you get them there?
Shared Meaningful Values: Leaders must identify values that are very important to their people. Then they must not only share those values, they must live by those values. What is a meaningful value? ‘Keeping my job’, ‘getting a promotion’ or ‘staying in business’ simply don’t cut it. These values, while good as far as they go, do not go deep enough into what matters most to us.
A few years ago a consultant I know was conducting a Vision-Mission-Values seminar for the sales department of a major cell phone provider. A cynical sales rep raised the following objection: “C’mon,” said the cynic, “What’s with all this values hokum? I don’t sell values, I just sell phones.” My friend, a New Yorker, paused for a moment, then said: “On the morning of 9-11, families with loved ones on the doomed planes and in the twin towers said good-bye to each other over the products you sell……. Think about this: You sell more than phones.”
A cell phone is not only a piece of communication hardware; it is also a means of bringing loved ones together over great distances. These phones can carry our hearts around the globe from just about anywhere on the globe.
The goods and services we provide hold our families and our society together. All of us, as a metaphor, ‘sell more than phones’. Whatever the product or service, it can tap into a higher value than merely providing someone with a job. Leaders can only discover these higher values by getting to know their employees.
High Trust: Someone who truly practices viral leadership must go a lot further than merely talking about trust. Leaders must demonstrate trust through their own behaviour everyday. It takes a significant level of personal courage to believe in the best side of people and to have faith in their better angels. To get the best out of people we must believe in the best sides of their characters. Leaders must encourage possibilities as well as set limits and enforce consequences.
Deeply Shared Commitment: Leaders need to demonstrate their own commitment to their employees’ success. Again, the messages that people will really hear will not be delivered by words but by deeds. Actions speak with much more authenticity than words. If, for example, a core belief of your organization is that “Our People Are Our Greatest Resource”, then you must find a way to demonstrate that belief and not just talk about it. That might mean listening to employee concerns and acting on them instead of just gathering feedback for an elusive tomorrow that never comes.
Viral leadership depends on many additional factors beyond shared values, high trust and deep commitment. Extraordinary communication skills and high levels of emotional intelligence are also essential, not only for designated leaders but across the entire organization.
When you can truly say that your people are helping each other become all they can be, then you are beginning to really foster Viral Leadership. “Of a truly great leader”, Lao Tzu reminds us, “the people will say ‘we did this ourselves’”.
© Bill Templeman
