The strained presidential transition facing President-elect Joe Biden probably rings true for many CEOs and other business leaders stepping into new positions of power.
We asked Rosabeth Moss Kanter, an expert on leadership and change, to discuss challenges confronting Biden and leaders who find themselves in similar situations. Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School. The interview was conducted via email.
Sean Silverthorne: From a leadership perspective, how should leaders approach divided constituencies both outside and within their own ranks?
Rosabeth Moss Kanter: Transitions are smooth and peaceful when there is wide consensus that the team or company or country is on a successful trajectory—what I call a winning streak. Then it is also likely that the successors have been endorsed by the outgoing office-holders or at least aligned with them. As I saw in studying winning streaks and losing streaks in sports as well as businesses and nations, it’s easy to appear united when your team is winning. Divisiveness tends to characterize losing streaks, in which people try to hold on to power because they feel they’re losing it or demonize others who don’t agree with them to avoid being demonized themselves.
The task of a new leader is to shift the cycle from losers’ dysfunctions to the unified team that is able to win. It’s time for a turnaround! Divided constituencies must embrace a larger goal. It’s always interesting to me that losing teams have star players, but those players often play for themselves, for their own statistics and career, and don’t really care whether their team actually wins games, as I showed in my book Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End.
Thus, new leaders must build team spirit. They must show that a winning team benefits everyone and certainly strengthens the team/company/country against the competition. They must invoke stirring symbols and grassroots heroes that a range of people can identify with. And they must avoid being dragged into the mud by sore losers. They keep their eyes on the work to be done.
Silverthorne: For new CEOs, what should their initial steps be in assuming power and laying out an agenda for action?
Kanter: New CEOs need to be adequately informed. One thing that makes turnarounds difficult is that the situation is always worse than is publicly known. Losing streaks are characterized by denial and cover-ups, withholding of information, and finger-pointing rather than accountability. Finding the data and putting facts on the table for all to confront ends closed cronyism and invites more people to the discussion of what can be done. In transitions, it helps to temper the need to look decisive and have policies with the desirability of asking lots of questions.
"The task of a new leader is to shift the cycle from losers’ dysfunctions to the unified team that is able to win."
New leaders should have already done their homework and have developed a perspective on strategies for the near-term and long-term. But first, before anything else, it’s important to stop the bleeding; that is, deal with crises and pain points. Whether the problems involve financial distress or human distress from a pandemic, this work should be carried out in a way that is consistent with how the new leader plans to govern, illustrates his or her values, and signals some of his or her later moves.
It’s pretty demoralizing to live inside a situation needing a turnaround. To renew people’s energy and give them hope for a brighter future, taking action should immediately reflect their priorities for their daily lives.
Silverthorne: Given how ingrained group conflict is, is divisiveness and thus decline inevitable—or is there hope?
Kanter: A classic social science experiment at a boys’ camp shows how quickly people can come to over-identify with their own group and demonize the others. Campers were randomly divided into groups of short duration. It didn’t take long for them to elevate their own group and vilify the others. But they dropped the divisiveness when put into new groups with an important task.
“Us versus them” turf wars seem to be a human tendency but not an inevitability. Leaders can do something about this. When people belong to more than one overlapping group (what is technically called pluralism), it’s harder to put “others” into a box and categorically hate them all. Getting stuck in silos, though, is dangerous because it imposes limitations and stifles innovation, as I argue in my new book Think Outside the Building. In companies, turf wars between departments and divisions hinder organizational performance. Silo-busting often consists of moving people from their home team to another team, or mixing and matching people with different backgrounds for a portion of their work. Giving people a common task, especially a meaningful one, so that they depend on one another to accomplish it, is a proven method. It’s why I’m such a strong believer in national service as a way to unite diverse young people who accomplish something big together.
Silverthorne: Why does group culture seem to matter so much when we thought economic interests dominate everything?
Kanter: Modern bureaucratic life was built on the myth that people could come to work dressed alike, use a common vocabulary (one company called it a “comvoc”), and leave their differentiated personal selves and external group memberships behind. All it took to motivate people, it was thought, was to offer financial incentives, and good results would follow.
Well, we know where an over-emphasis on shareholder value alone got us, and it wasn’t good. People care about being cared about. They want respect for their backgrounds and cultures. They want to express their values and will do that even if not paid, or paid well, for it. So if we see that on the positive side—being motivated through purpose and meaning rather than merely money—we shouldn’t be surprised to see it on the negative side, too, clinging to an identity even if will be costly.
It’s fascinating that emotions, which used to be called “irrational,” are so important as drivers of human behavior that people will vote against their material interests. As one who has long been urging corporate and political leaders to pay more attention to feelings and culture, I think those will now be very much on the radar screen. It’s not “touchy-feely” (a long-standing put-down) for a leader to show empathy at an employee’s or a citizen’s loss. In fact, it gets people’s attention long enough that they might be able to listen to more complex arguments. Relationships matter.
Silverthorne: Words from leaders are important: some soothe, others inflame. What’s your advice to new leaders for setting the right tone? What should the tenor of their language be?
Kanter: Top leaders set a tone whenever they open their mouths. They don’t have to be great orators, but they do have to know how language is heard and interpreted.
Leaders can talk about “we” and “us.” They can point to shared experiences and shared aspirations. Leaders can talk about “you”—showing that they are taking you into account and counting on you. Leaders can talk about themselves in ways that demonstrate their own connection with the people they are mobilizing.
"Top leaders don’t have to be great orators, but they do have to know how language is heard and interpreted."
One of the most important things is authenticity—a consistency of public and private expressions. That microphone might be always on.
Silverthorne: If you met President-elect Biden in an elevator today, what would your advice be?
Kanter: I’d first make sure that we are both wearing masks and have room to distance! I would start by thanking him for sending positive messages, not demonizing people who think differently, and wanting to unite people whether they voted for him or not. I’d thank him for believing in facts and keeping his promises, as he did when he picked Kamala Harris as his Vice President. Then my advice would be: Mr. President-elect, saying “thank you” and seeing the best in people is how to get their attention and bring them along, the way that Nelson Mandela did in healing South Africa. Keep it up!
If I had more time, I’d thank him for running an inclusive campaign. I’d thank him for enabling thousands of volunteers to serve on numerous policy committees and having our voices heard on COVID-19 relief, infrastructure, innovation, education, racial justice, child care, and so much more. Never stop being open to ideas!
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, @RosabethKanter, holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School. She co-founded and was founding chair and director of the Harvard University-wide Advanced Leadership Initiative. She is author or co-author of 20 books including her most recent, Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time.
About the author
Sean Silverthorne is editor-in-chief of Harvard Business School Working Knowledge.
[Image: iStock Photo]
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