Blue Elevator Blog

Leadership and the silent majority

So you want to be a leader?  The leader title doesn’t just apply to those in positional leadership, such as the C-Suite (e.g. CEO, CFO, COO, etc.) – it applies to all of us who desire to make a positive impact on our workplace, ministry, and the world.  As we will address, it is important for the leader to know his or her respective constituency – and specifically, a group we will call the silent majority.

As a leader, you first have to accept that you have weaknesses.  I also encourage leaders to be transparent about their weaknesses.  If you are transparent, this will improve your effectiveness.  Most leaders feel like they need to hide their weaknesses – because they are the leader.  The added reason for transparency is that those you lead are already vastly familiar with your weaknesses.

Leading is not for the faint of heart.  Leading is not about popularity, but about effectiveness.  You can be popular (and ineffective) and you can be ineffective (and popular).  This article is not about being or becoming popular.  In fact, sometimes, a by-product of effectiveness may mean that your popularity may suffer.

The 25/25/50 Rule

For years, I have been using a little formula.  Have you ever noticed that there are some people you hit it off with and others that you don’t?  And then, there’s all the others.  Well, that’s what I call the 25/25/50 rule: 25% of the people will love you, 25% of the people won’t like you no matter what you do, and the the remaining 50% can take you or leave you.  The percentages are somewhat arbitrary.  Everyone’s numbers are going to be slightly different.  If you are a people person, your “like” quadrant may be higher.  If you are a curmudgeon, your “won’t like” quadrant might be higher.  Whatever the case, when you lop-off the extremes, you are left with a majority of the people that will fall into the vast majority.  Let’s label these groups.

Fans

This is what we will call the 25% of the people that like you.  By and large, these are the people that are your cheerleaders.  Seemingly, for this group, you can do nothing wrong.  They love what you do.

Critics

This is what we will call the 25% of the people that don’t like you.  These are your critics.  These are the people that seem to be the contrarians.  No matter what you do, your critics are there to let you know how you fell short…again.

The Silent Majority

This is the group we will call the remaining 50%.  These people are neither fans nor critics.  That being said, they are neither devoid of opinion or influence.  They are objective and they are evaluating every move you make.  Don’t assume that because they are silent, all is OK.  “No news is good news” does not apply.

Leaders must learn to trust their gauges

If you want to be a successful leader, there are many attributes that must be mastered.  It is neither simple nor easy.  Leading is hard work.  It is tip of the spear work.  Often, the organization may be attempting to move in a new direction.  At times, there will be turbulence.  As a leader, you are going to have to come to grips with fans, critics, and the silent majority.

For some of you, you may have heard the phrase, “trust your gauges.”  This is a phrase used by airplane pilots for navigating.  When the skies are black and turbulent, a pilot has to learn to be able to fly by his or her gauges.  The reason is, flying is three dimensional.  There are times when things are so dark that you can’t differentiate they ground from the sky.  Things may feel normal, but you could be in big trouble.  You could be safely at 30,000 feet, or you could be 30 feet from the tip of a mountain.  Set aside the fact that not everyone knows how to fly; there are those pilots that know how to fly by sight, and then there are those advanced pilots that know how to fly by their gauges.

As a leader, you must be able to trust your gauges.  Since every organization and constituency is different, you will also likely have to create your own gauges.  Your success will be influenced by which gauges you trust; therefore,  you need to know from which group to fashion your gauges.

Fans

Fans encourage us, support us, and help make our journeys tolerable.  The trouble is, well-intentioned fans tell us what we want to hear – and not what we need to hear.  The error that most leaders make is that they seek both support and advice from fans.  Consider this: “Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.” – Proverbs 16:9.  A lot of your fans just want your favor.  They feed you sweet nothings and you like that.  Who wouldn’t?  But do your fans really have the organization’s best interest at heart?  Do they really have your best interest at heart?  Often times, fans give you false instrument readings.  This gauge does not ring true.  They will make you believe you have a full gas tank, when you could be minutes away from sputtering out of the sky.

Critics

You may have heard the saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”  You can select some critics, but most leaders won’t.  I’m not even saying you should put critics on your steering committee, but you don’t need to silence them either.  They say two types of people will tell you what you don’t want to hear: an enemy and a trusted friend.  Critics can be won.  That being said, you will spend an inordinate amount of time trying to win some critics who may never come around anyway.  Critics are capable of providing valuable feedback.  The problem is, we tend to discount the message because we discount the messenger.

The Silent Majority

By default, we are left with the silent majority.  This is where the game is won or lost.  When you are building your organization or implementing your vision, it is very important that you create gauges made from members of the silent majority.  Their silence is not because they are indifferent – it is because they may not feel comfortable taking risks.  You will have to go after these people; they are, after all, the silent majority.  They can tell you what is wrong and, as an added bonus, how to fix it.  In exchange, you must offer them your trust.  Consider this: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” – Proverbs 27:6.  This suggests that the feedback may be painful.  It also suggests that “kisses” (from fans) may not be in your best interest.  The silent majority may be reluctant to tell you the things that you really need to hear.  The risk to them is that they will be discredited, shunned, or turned aside.  Invest in this group.  Hear them.  All too often, leaders short-circuit progress because they mistake “tough feedback” from a silent majority feedback as the voice of a “critic.”  Don’t make that mistake.  Consider also: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22.

Are you engaging the silent majority?

To help you answer this question, ask yourself these questions:  1) Who am I spending time with?  2) Am I hanging out with my fan club, or am I seeking out new faces and soliciting feedback from the silent majority?  3) Are the people surrounding me patting me on the back, or am I receiving tough feedback?  4) Am I involving the groups of people that will be impacted by change?  By involvement, I do not mean to say informing them of a decision you and the fan club have made.  I mean engaging the silent majority with your concerns and asking them for input on the decision.  Be careful, though.  In the process of engaging the silent majority, you may inadvertently convert some of them to fans.  Here’s the good news: you don’t have to get rid of your fan club.  Keep them.  Just don’t rely on them for mission-critical feedback.  Continue the process of seeking the input of others.  Ask, listen, and adjust.

These days, there is plenty of opinion to go around.  The effective leader is careful to identify who it is that he or she seeks advice from.  For homework, you can read a great story in 1 Kings, Chapter 12.  Choose wisely!  Be encouraged today!