The Fog Of Leadership

I had a client last year that inspired the following article. When that happens, I typically share the article with the client prior to publishing as a courtesy. The client wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of being featured but agreed that when we could add a happy ending, we’d publish. And today we can add a happy ending.  

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I met Sheriff Hartshorn for our annual Leadership Tomorrow Criminal Justice Day. It was a particularly foggy, fall morning in Vermilion County. We said our hellos and as we waited for the students to arrive he said, “I was driving in for Leadership Tomorrow this morning through the fog and I thought, ‘The Fog of Leadership,’ that would be a great topic for Annie’s Rise + Grind!”

The Sheriff reads Rise + Grind?! I am consistently surprised and flattered when I come across someone that finds value in this message and takes the time to read it.

Today’s article is in honor of the request from one of my favorite public servants, Sheriff Hartshorn.

The Fog of Leadership

I do a fair amount of consulting work. I feel lucky to be positioned to consult. I like a big messy problem to solve. I like a twisted conflict that seems impossible to straighten out. I like solving for the unknown. As a third party to conflict, confusion, or chaos you have the advantage of perspective in most cases. And that advantage lets you see a clear path to resolution.

But what happens when, even with perspective, the problem is too big, the conflict is too messy, or the solution is too obscure? The path to resolution is foggy.

I recently worked with a client entrenched in this fog. Having worked in their industry and successfully resolved similar issues before, I found myself dealing with a conflict that had permeated the entire leadership team. The conflict itself isn’t the problem, it was the icy civility in which the players in conflict treated one another.  It was not anger that had taken over; it was hurt.

Hurt is complex. Hurt is personal. Hurt is foggy.

Fog forms when cool air temperatures move over warm surfaces. In the case of this organization, trust was compromised and the temperature of the team chilled. They weren’t in heated fights. This once close, trusting team, hurt one another and their behavior towards each other cooled over this heated undercurrent. The fog formed. Then, Leadership couldn’t see the clear path forward.

Perspective can be difficult to find in the fog. It requires sitting in the uncertainty, gradually raising the air temperature, and being flexible in your approach based on emerging conditions. Trust that when you bring up the temperature that there will be a path available, even if the path does not lead directly to resolution.

Leadership is more than knowing the answer or seeing a clear path. It’s also having the integrity to admit that it is unsettling when the path ahead is unknown. It’s having the courage to sit in fog alongside your team, raising the temperature slowly until the path forward that best serves the organization is unveiled.  

Lifting the fog.

In addressing the challenges faced by this organization, our approach involved slowly increasing the temperature within the team. We conducted individual interviews with each team member, cataloging their experiences that led to the hurt. It was especially important that every team member had the opportunity to voice their concerns, have their experiences acknowledged and feelings validated.

Next, we mediated interpersonal conflicts, providing a safe and constructive environment to resolve their issues. Mediation played a pivotal role in raising the temperature for this team. Only after working on the personal connections within the team were they ready to address the dysregulation within the larger team.

I'm pleased to share that this team made a commendable effort to heal. Through tough conversations, taking ownership of their actions, and a conscious decision to forgive, they developed their own trust contract. In the end, the fog cleared, uncovering not only a mended team but a stronger one, bound by resilience, understanding, and a collective dedication to forging a path forward.