How to Lead the Boss
Leahcim Semaj, Ph.D. - Change Agent

Ever so often a much heralded book appears. It is previewed in a variety of media. If this is empty hype it easily goes unnoticed. If on the other hand, it touches a raw nerve, the impact is immediate. We have such a book in "Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss so You Both Win, by Michael Useem, a Wharton management professor. This book was featured in Fast Company last month and is the feature book in this month in Soundview "New and Noteworthy" New letter. Useem uses an anthology of stories from business, natural catastrophe, religion, war, humanitarian disasters and politics to offer us some important lesson on leadership. This information is critical for all of us, not only when we are leading subordinates, but more often when we have to lead our superiors and bosses.

If people are afraid to help their leaders lead, their leaders will fail. As the pace of change accelerates those on the front lines have become more independent and by necessity responsibility to keep the leader more informed than before. You are the one out front and you can see what the leader is missing. You are in a better position to evaluate the Emperor's ward robe.

You must be willing to be a risk taker.
In order for you to succeed as a risk taker on behalf of those above you, it is necessary that you develop the ability to arrive at decisions quickly and accurately. This you must be willing to do, despite the severity, rather than kick them upstairs. He gives the story of how Charles Schwab revolutionized the brokerage industry in the USA. The whole process was masterminded by David Pottruck who knew that if the new business model failed, so would he. He would be toast. He took the risk.

You must speak up if you wish to lead up.
Useem draw an example from the US Marines, the ultimate command-and-control institution. If the superior issues a flawed order officers are expected to point out the flaws before those orders go into effect. An example is given of the four star general Peter Pace, the commander in chief at the U.S. Southern Command in Miami. He never ends a meeting without asking his subordinates to tell him what each think. In challenging them to challenge him he reinforces the culture where all are inspired to lead up.

The Process of Reverse Mentoring
Useem selects GE as the company that is most committed to the concept of upward leadership. Here everyone was expected to challenge their leader, even if it meant challenging Jack Welch himself. To encourage this process GE launched a programme for mentoring up. For a long time GE required their veteran leaders to mentor the next generation of top talent. A radical shift occurred two years ago when Welch realizing that the Web would be radically altering how we do business. The problem however was that e-business knowledge is generally inversely proportional to both age and height up the corporate ladder. Welch wanted mentoring up to shift this equilibrium. He asked 600 of his executives worldwide to reach down into the ranks and "pick younger Webified people to teach them the ways of the Net". Welch himself set the standard be selecting the young woman that was responsible for GE's main Web site to be his Net coach. The result of this intervention was twofold. Middle managers became more comfortable in feeding ideas upstairs and pressing their bosses to change. The senior managers reported that they became more comfortable in eliciting insights from those below them. The general conclusion was that the process of reverse mentoring resulted in more people becoming willing to challenge their leaders, which helped the leaders do a better job of leading. Minister Paulwell was on the right track when selected young Makonen as his consultant.

We desperate need more people in Jamaica to be willing to take the risks involved in leading up, to lead their boss, both in business and politics.