Complexity of Leadership

Leadership is becoming more complex, and teams now expect both inspiration and clarity - vision and structure.

In summary there are two essential dimensions of leadership "Plumbing" which means to lead effectively with the right processes & systems.  "Poetry" is the Leader's identity and curiosity to discover new approaches.

Plumbing is clear decision making, onboarding systems, succession planning, performance management and an open communication process for feedback.

Poetry is an exciting vision with storytelling, challenging assumptions on products or services, encouraging curiosity and problem solving.

The quote comes from the book "On Leadership" by James G March & Thierry Weil. 

I recently came across the quote and the understanding of it  by reading "Strong Ground" by Brené Brown. 

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, too much Plumbing may well feel too rigid and too much Poetry can lead to confusion and misalignment.  Advantage of poetry is that it is inspiring and easy to have enthusiastic followers.  Plumbing can be advantageous to have a clear idea of how to reach the goals of the organisation.

Brown explains in her own organisation she was the dreamer and frustrated the hell out of the reality checkers.  The way to make the business effective was everyone had to take on the role of both Dreamer & Reality Checker or Plumber & Poet.  It is that ability to wear both hats that will see dreams become reality and most importantly take people on the journey with you.

I think this is so true of many organisations I work with.  There is a great Poet with an amazing vision and relying heavily on a Team below to interpret  their poetry.  Leaders need to have some plumbing of their own in place.  The vision is only going to work if you have some plans as to how to roll it out.

My own experience of running nuggets  has been a steep learning curve of way too much Poetry and not enough Plumbing.  I have worked hard over the years to build structure and processes to keep nuggets balanced .  Recently I presented a proposal to a company and I had too much Poetry.  I sold the vision of what the workshop would give them and did not spend much time explaining the methodology of the delivery eg. the Plumbing.

Think about your own Leadership style:-

• Where do you sit naturally - Poet Or Plumber
• How does that manifest itself in your behaviour or decisions?
• What could you do to ensure you work as both Poet & Plumber?

The balance may shift over time, eg. a startup may need lots of Poetry to get the followers to work with you.  When a company is in crisis it will need to rely on its Plumbing to get it back on track. If a new product or service is being released at the start you need the Poetry and during you need the Plumbing. 

Leadership is not about choosing between Poet or Plumber, it is learning when to switch roles and encouraging your team to wear both hats.  Think about your current month ahead and decide what needs more attention Plumbing or Poetry.