Taylor Clarke Blog

Think of a Leader! By Robin Tait, Director

June 20th, 2007

A lot of Taylor Clarke’s work has been and remains leadership development. We often use an exercise which we first came across when working with a large public sector client on their major leadership programme a few years ago.  The exercise is called ‘Think of a Leader’ and it is, without doubt one of the simplest, yet the most energising and affirming exercises I’ve ever used when working on leadership development programmes. Just give people some time for reflection around the following statement, “think of the best manager you ever worked for?”And then ask two straightforward questions:  “What was it that they did that made you think of them that way?  How did working for them make you feel?”We normally give people five minutes for so to make some notes and then go round the room asking each person in turn to tell the group about their best ever manager.So what do people say? Well, thankfully for someone who works in leadership development, they say what you’d hope that they’d say. However what makes the stories remarkable is the consistency between people and between groups of people across organisations throughout the UK.  Even more interestingly people tell their stories with a level of emotion which is compelling, especially given that in some cases (sadly) they are speaking about a manager who they worked for over 20 years ago.

A number of themes tend to come out of the stories people tell. Looking first at the issue of what their best ever manager did, the quotes below illustrate most common theme that emerges:

‘extended me and pushed me’
‘gave me an opportunity and helped me learn’
‘encouraged me to develop myself’
‘challenged me to do things I never thought I could’
‘shoved me in at the deep end’
‘challenged my own self-imposed limitations’
‘gave me confidence in my own abilities’

Without doubt the most often reported memory I hear is all about the manager having faith in the person, trusting them and helping them realise their potential. Though it’s more than that because it’s helping people see (and experience) that they can do more than they think they can, in some cases a lot more. You really do seem to get what you expect!

I’ve run this exercise more than 20 times and that’s involved over 200 people. No one has ever said of their best ever manager that they ‘helped me get a bigger bonus’, ‘helped me double my salary’ or ‘helped me make a fortune’.

The second part of the exercise is where the emotion comes out. People usually mention feeling valued, feeling needed and respected. They talk about how they really felt a part of something and enjoyed, or loved, coming to work, they say how motivated they felt and then they often tell stories, amazing stories, about the things they did while working for that best ever manager.

One guy I met on the major public sector leadership programme, mentioned earlier, talked about a manager he worked for over 30 years ago. He spoke about how he and his, similarly inspired, colleagues got together and, off their own bat and in their own time, redecorated the rather shabby office where they served the public. He spoke about how he and others had brought in their own spare furniture and carpets to make their work place a better, more welcoming environment for their customers.

You can’t buy that kind of attitude but you can help create it. So, whose best ever manager are you?