CHAPTER EIGHT
Meet the Inspirer
In a world where human attention is one of our most prized commodities, Inspirers have “star power.” It doesn’t seem to matter whether they are standing behind a podium or standing in line for a cup of coffee; heads turn when an Inspirer is on the scene. What draws the attention of others like a magnet is the palpable sense of purpose that the Inspirer exudes. The Inspirer doesn’t wander through life looking to others for a sense of direction. Inspirers trust their own instincts, and as a result, they radiate the type of self-confidence that always seems to put them in the spotlight. In our workshops, Jimmy Carter is one of the leaders often cited as exemplifying the power style of an Inspirer. Other people who are regularly mentioned for living their beliefs include Richard Branson, Margaret Mead, and Joseph Campbell.
After studying the roots of this power style, only 5 percent of our coaching population claim that they would consider themselves authentic Inspirers. For our purposes, there’s a difference between an inspirational figure and an Inspirer. As we have seen in the previous chapters, inspirational figures are associated with every quadrant on the Power Grid, although Inspirers are named as such because of the unique attributes and abilities I’ll describe. More specifically, an important relationship exists between Charmers and Inspirers, as both types compel our attention. To understand the difference between these diagonal quadrants on the Power Grid, bear in mind that Charmers can project an inspirational public image that diverts attention from the personal demons they struggle with in life. Inspirers, on the other hand, exhibit a consistent pattern of doing what benefits the greater good before taking the time to calculate what’s in it for them. It’s their automatic altruism that makes them stand out from the crowd.
The distinction between these power styles has important implications for Inspirers on the job. For example, many clients in competitive cultures report that they often feel forced to defend their turf or protect their professional reputations at the expense of others. Because of the ways they have been conditioned by their family systems, Inspirers are often more likely to walk away from a power struggle or even a promising job than succumb to the temptation to attack a colleague or join a catfight. Does this make them heroic, or politically naive? It depends on the situation and your point of view. One thing most people working with the Power Grid agree on is that the style of the Inspirer challenges us all to look beneath the surface and consider more deeply the ebb and flow of the emotional currents driving people’s power styles.
Strengths of the Inspirer
Inspirers are easy to spot because their strengths draw us in to take a closer look. They often are larger-than-life figures because their goals can be simultaneously audacious and selfless.
Inspirers Have Charisma
If you’re on the fence about whether or not thoughts can have energy, spend some time with an Inspirer. They will make you a believer.
Whether they are addressing a board of directors or performing for an audience of thousands, Inspirers operate with an innate charisma that envelops the people around them. Your best clue for identifying an Inspirer on the job is to turn down the volume on your mental chatter and check in with your feelings. The famous phrase “People don’t remember what you say, they remember how they feel about what you say” was probably said first by someone describing the presentation style of an Inspirer.
Whether we intend to or not, we telegraph our self-confidence as well as our commitment to others in a myriad of nonverbal ways. The less we second-guess ourselves, the more we send signals that can act like a magnet when like-minded people pick up on the confident vocal tone, pacing, and body language that naturally accompany genuine conviction. Inspirers have been conditioned to let their thoughts and feelings flow freely. This is largely because parents in an Inspirer’s family system don’t force their children to suppress aspects of themselves so that the parents can remain emotionally comfortable.
Inspirers Lead by Example
Raw power infuses the energy of what an Inspirer says. This is because people who operate from this quadrant don’t just pay lip service to what they believe in—they bleed for it. In a world where fewer and fewer people walk their talk, being in the presence of a genuine Inspirer can be intoxicating.
This powerful quality stems from a timeless truth that the caregivers from an Inspirer’s family system frequently embrace: you have to become the type of human being you hope your children will want to emulate. Inspirers don’t need to waste energy in their childhoods trying to figure out what’s going on when Mommy and Daddy claim to respect each other but grit their teeth and glare at each other over the dinner table. Whether the Inspirer is raised in a single-parent household, a dual-parent household, or some creative variation on an extended family, this child grows up with ongoing exposure to authority figures who strive to practice what they preach.
Raised on a farm outside Plains, Georgia, President Carter was surrounded by a close-knit family who modeled the importance of independent thinking for him at an early age. In his book The Virtues of Aging, Carter notes that, during his childhood, reading at the table was encouraged during mealtimes: “Any discussions, of necessity, had to be more interesting than what we were reading, and were usually brief, narrowly focused and often involved controversial subjects.”1
Carter’s father, Earl, was a successful farmer and businessman, and his mother, Lillian, was a registered nurse. Carter’s parents were able to hold thoughtful, contrasting, and passionate views concerning the role of segregation in the South while maintaining an even balance of power in their marriage. Growing up in this household gave Carter a unique perspective on the importance of acting on your beliefs through treating others with respect rather than just paying lip service to virtues of this kind.
The day of his inauguration in 1977, President Carter rejected the limo he was offered and chose to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. This historic display of modeling the virtues of simplicity and honesty, rather than just talking about them, helped heal a nation that was still reeling from the betrayal of Watergate.
Inspirers Are Visionary
One reason Inspirers have an edge when it comes to innovative thinking is that their commitment to an idea or a business mission doesn’t just come from the head—it comes from the heart as well. Because of Inspirers’ tendency to follow what stokes their passions as well as what fuels profits, the professional causes that galvanize them often have an altruistic tone. The emotional reflexes of Inspirers guide them to support causes they consider greater than themselves. Because of their faith in and commitment to what most of us would consider beneficial causes, Inspirers have a powerful impact on the group energy of whatever system they join. What’s particularly impressive is that Inspirers will often take personal risks and endure daunting obstacles to support their beliefs.
Watching their parents look out for the less fortunate and for each other conditions Inspirers to automatically consider the greater good. From their earliest memories, many Inspirers will tell you that the heroes they admired and the goals they set for themselves were aligned with helping others.
When we examine the intersection of strengths that takes place when an individual embodies both a commitment to the greater good and an ability to move the masses, we see that Inspirers bring more than vision to the table—they bring hope. Inspirers don’t just consider the bigger picture, they envision ways to improve it. They also make a habit of looking for what’s positive about the people and situations that surround them. As a result, Inspirers aren’t just well known, they are also generally well liked.
Inspirers Treat People as Equals
We’ve all had these brushes with greatness: The CEO who stops in the hall to thank the janitor for keeping the place gleaming—and leaves a gleam in the eye of this employee that money can’t buy. The boss who notices his secretary is having a bad day, and takes a moment to ask how she’s doing rather than barking in frustration. The division head who makes sure the new employee fits in with the rest of the team rather than leaving this recruit to sink or swim. Regardless of the seniority of someone who exhibits these kinds of reactions, people who witness this kind of behavior know they are in the presence of a genuine leader. This quality is instinctual for Inspirers. They have the common touch.
While Commanders and Inspirers both gravitate to working with groups, Commanders have a hierarchical approach, and Inspirers see the world as more of a level playing field. Because Inspirers trust that good ideas can come from anyone, regardless of their seniority, they deal easily with groups and listen carefully to input from colleagues at all levels in their system. On the job, an Inspirer is likely to be as respectful toward the receptionist as he or she is toward the CEO.
Due to their respect for and ease with people from all walks of life, Inspirers exhibit behavior that motivates people around them to share their enthusiasm. What’s more, people who are in the presence of an Inspirer often find that the ability to relax and think more freely is contagious. This makes Inspirers appealing to others on an emotional as well as an intellectual level. It can also make them wildly popular both as managers and as mentors.
Inspirer Blind Spots
The visionary passion of the Inspirer, which is their greatest strength, can also sow the seeds of their professional demise. When an Inspirer gets so focused on the big picture that they miss the personal agendas that may be driving their colleagues, and the tactical details that may be driving their organizations, a promising career can get derailed. Inspirers must guard against getting so swept away by their innate enthusiasm that they forget the importance of a sound political strategy when it comes to operating effectively within a large organization.
Inspirers Can Be Politically Naive
Inspirers can get blindsided if they approach projects by being so focused on the bird’s-eye view of the potential that they miss what’s lurking in the weeds. One of the main things lurking in the weeds is often people whose motives are less noble than their own. By overlooking the personal agendas driving other types on the grid, Inspirers can experience an organizational backlash that scuttles some of their best ideas. When this happens, it’s not just the Inspirer’s career that starts sinking, their organization often takes a big hit as well.
As with many Inspirers, Carter’s outspoken and visionary nature cast him as a political outsider. As the governor of Georgia, Carter was known for regularly going over the heads of the assembly to get his programs passed. During his presidency, Carter focused on supporting legislation that cut the pork barrel projects that Congress loved. Like many Inspirers who try to fly above the personal agendas of ambitious colleagues, Carter became a political target for some of his peers. With only a fragile hold on his own party’s support, he faced a backlash from his political opponents that left many of his programs stranded in committee on Capitol Hill and caused his moral standards to be called into question amid financial scandals.
Another symptom of an inspirer’s political naïveté is a failure to recognize when their success and popularity is met with envy by superiors. It’s a form of tunnel vision when they continue to pursue a passionate campaign, never pausing to appease the jealous colleagues whom they need in support of their efforts.
Turning a blind eye to the political agendas of others can put Inspirers on the endangered species list. People operating from other quadrants often “sense” a certain power in the Inspirer that they don’t quite understand. Instead of being drawn to support Inspirers, individuals who are deeply entrenched in their own agendas may have the automatic reaction to eliminate anyone powerful enough to deflect attention away from them. During senior management reorganizations, the power plays that people from other quadrants will resort to when they covet the popularity of an Inspirer can feel like the opening day of hunting season in a game preserve. Thus, for the sake of their professional survival, it’s important for Inspirers to study the power plays employed by people operating from other quadrants on the grid.
Inspirers Have Trouble Dealing with Red Tape
It’s not uncommon to see Inspirers grow weary of the bureaucracy in a large organization and choose to strike out on their own. Depending on their aptitude for entrepreneurship, they may face many of the same frustrations in the new organization they have created and end up feeling like victims of their own success.
From their earliest memories in their family system, Inspirers learned to value freedom. They like the freedom to manage their own time without restrictions. They like the freedom to brainstorm openly. They like the freedom to express their feelings spontaneously. Here’s the rub: the desire to be part of an organization or movement that is greater than yourself and the longing to feel independent and free of constraints often pull people in different directions. These sometimes diametrically opposed urges can, in extreme cases, create what feels like an internal civil war in the psyche of the Inspirer.
By studying other types on the Power Grid, the Inspirer can learn some valuable lessons about tolerance and perspective when it comes to working with others. Whether they realize it or not—and our less conscious reactions become blind spots precisely because we don’t recognize them—when Inspirers vote with their feet and walk away, their actions are screaming their dissatisfaction even when they don’t articulate their complaints. Through studying different power styles, the Inspirer can learn how to manage small conflicts more effectively so they don’t escalate into exit scenarios.
A central skill that’s required in large business structures that can confound Inspirers is the need to manage underperforming employees. Inspirers tend to get on the fast track early in their careers and stay there. One reason for this is that they are generally easy to manage. Because they have been raised in a family system where they were given plenty of room to express themselves authentically, Inspirers rarely need excessive compliments or reprimands to stay on track. However, the larger a particular system is, the more likely it is that an Inspirer will need to manage less self-motivated employees. Here’s another area where studying people who operate with different power styles can help the Inspirer work effectively within a larger business structure.
Inspirers Ignore Details in Favor of the Big Picture
Inspirers do not just think outside the box, they frequently ignore the box altogether. When they do this, Inspirers may overlook critical details that can derail their best intentions. The most elegant strategy must be practical if it’s going to be successfully executed. To keep their ideas commercially viable, Inspirers need to get feedback from other types on the grid to make sure they have considered the nuts and bolts of what is required to make their vision a reality.
Steve Jobs is a business leader who has been the subject of intense speculation in our Power Grid discussions on the Inspirer. Because of his consistent ability to drive innovation, some participants consider him to be an Inspirer.
One thing that Jobs can teach us is that even the best innovative thinkers can get into trouble when they focus so heavily on their vision that they overestimate the abilities of other key players to manage the details of execution. In Jobs’s case, this pitfall came to light when AT&T, the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone, ran into capacity problems that prevented Apple’s customers from enjoying the benefits that the original version of the iPhone was intended to provide. Although Jobs managed the situation, his predicament at the time revealed that turning a vision into reality isn’t just an exercise in strategic supremacy, it’s a tactical and collaborative adventure as well.
In addition to exhibiting a strong preference for the big picture and a willingness to sacrifice attention to detail, Inspirers can fall into the trap of surrounding themselves with other high-level, big-picture thinkers. As far as an Inspirer is concerned, everyone on the team is equal and deserves to be making important decisions. Yet, in order to execute their vision, Inspirers must build diverse teams that contain enough on-the-ground expertise to be responsible for the tactical and practical details.
Inspirers Can Risk Burnout
I’ll never forget telling one beloved Inspirer who was struggling with an overload of challenges at his organization and considering leaving, “You can’t help anyone here if you don’t have a pulse.”
The head of HR referred to this Inspirer as the “cultural glue” that was keeping some of the most talented performers from walking out the door of this prominent financial services firm. In feedback meetings, otherwise cynical and savvy traders were telling me things like, “I’d go to Iraq for this guy . . . I’d throw myself on a live grenade for this guy . . . I trust this man with my family’s financial future.” This Inspirer was everyone’s favorite mentor, senior management’s moral compass, and the first call most people made in the firm when a difficult client was on the line. Hey, no pressure, right?
Sadly, one sign that you’re dealing with an Inspirer can be the dark circles under their eyes. While it’s commendable to watch an Inspirer passionately work for a cause they believe in, the backstage view of this heroic performance can be daunting if the Inspirer’s schedule becomes so demanding that his or her health and family relationships come under pressure. This happens when the Inspirer’s commitment to helping others begins to eclipse his or her commitment to personal balance.
An Inspirer’s Family Background
It’s important to note that the two-parent heterosexual household, where parents stay married for life, is not considered as typical as it was when Salvador Minuchin, R. D. Laing, and Virginia Satir were developing their theories about family systems dynamics in the 1960s and 1970s. Thus, any framework for studying the impact of family dynamics on job performance later in life would be incomplete without recognizing the wide range of single-parent and extended family systems that are prevalent in our culture. This issue comes to the forefront naturally when we study the family system of Inspirers. That’s because in the Inspirer system, the caregivers are often (although certainly not always) highly self-actualized as individuals and less bound by any specific traditions and norms that might limit their ability to live into the idealized vision they have for themselves. Whether they are adopted, raised in single-parent homes, or even raised by parents who have remained good friends following a divorce, Inspirers report also that their caregivers by and large treat each other with respect—thus giving some young Inspirers a beginning that (compared with that of some other power types) is less burdened by painful or codependent family dynamics. The important point here isn’t whether or not an Inspirer comes from a nontraditional family structure; it’s the fact that they are raised by authority figures who are predisposed to try to work through domestic conflicts head-on or else find a way to gracefully exit the union. They tend not to feel bound by contract to settle, or remain in a marriage or relationship that is not functioning. As a result, when Inspirers are faced with conflicts on the job, they are more likely than other types on the grid to leave a system they consider dysfunctional.
The structure of a healthy family system is built on the foundation of the caregivers’ ability to respect each other and share power maturely. This foundation of mutual respect among authority figures is actively modeled in the day-to-day interactions that take place in an Inspirer’s family system. Thus, children raised in an Inspirer system rarely have their precious energy drained by needing to adapt to power struggles taking place between their caregivers.
How do the authority figures in an Inspirer’s family avoid the petty power struggles that plague so many of us? In an Inspirer system, the caregivers tend to define themselves as individuals rather than basing their sense of identity on the role they play in the system. The secret is that the caregivers in this family draw energy from supporting a cause that they feel is greater than themselves. For some this is a form of artistic expression, and for others it may be a commitment to politics or even to spiritual growth. Whatever this higher calling is, it fulfills each individual parent’s need for personal meaning to such an extent that they don’t need to drain each other’s energy to feel alive.
It’s worth noting that while the balance of power in the family systems of both the Commander and the Inspirer can be heavily influenced by the caregivers’ commitment to a larger cultural system, an important distinction exists between the types of values these two systems foster within children. In the Commander’s family, both the family and the larger system that this family aligns itself with operate hierarchically. In contrast, both the Inspirer’s family system and any larger cultural systems their family embraces tend to have less formal rules and fewer requirements for conformity.
In fact, the need for conformity is so low in the families of some Inspirers that each parent often feels free to devote his or her efforts to supporting different causes. For example, the mother of an Inspirer may channel her efforts into educational reform, while her husband finds that his passion is composing music. Thus, while time and resources must be negotiated in all families, the Inspirer system is spared many of the power struggles that take place when one parent tries to force the other to adapt to his or her priorities.
Parents from Inspirer family systems must ponder a critical question: how much freedom is too much freedom? Without a baseline of discipline, Inspirers risk becoming so nonconformist that they don’t learn to plan, overlook details, and can’t work collaboratively within any larger system.
In his fabulously witty and practical book, Get Out of My Life, But First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall? child psychologist Anthony Wolf explores the pros and cons of changes in the structure of the relationship between parents and children when he writes:
Old-style respect is gone. We have entered a new era in child rearing. Perhaps the old way was easier and more pleasant, but it is gone. Nostalgia is acceptable, but that style of parenting also had a flaw, in my opinion. It was based in part on establishing fear. Creating fear as an explicit child-raising practice has had some bad consequences. It can breed anger and resentment. It can intimidate and cause the intimidated to lose confidence in themselves. Perhaps worst of all, it tells children that in the service of getting what one wants, fear and intimidation are necessary and acceptable in everyday life.2
Wolf has some refreshingly practical advice that goes to the heart of the parenting style that takes place in the Inspirer system. He suggests that parents, caregivers, and authority figures on the job all need to “grow up” and learn to respond with maturity rather than frustration when they are emotionally triggered. This tends to happen naturally in an Inspirer system because self-actualized caregivers in this type of family system are able to respond to challenges from their kids with a combination of personal confidence and humility.
Wolf describes the parenting style that children often experience in an Inspirer system when he writes:
The first step is to accept a child’s right to say what he or she has to say no matter how stupid or unreasonable. You don’t have to listen to all of it, you can leave whenever you want, but you respect their right to say it. Then you say what you have to say, and are not blown away by the inevitable response. This kind of parenting earns respect. It’s the strength not to descend to the teenager’s level of name-calling, when they would lose respect for you. It’s the strength to walk away . . . You need confidence and not the confidence that you are always making the right decision—nobody can do that—or that you are always in control of the kid—nobody can even come close to doing that. Rather, you need the confidence that you are the right person for the job, and that your efforts are definitely not in vain.3
Don’t think Wolf’s advice is only helpful for parents. The number of senior executives I’ve worked with who have read Wolf’s book and found it a valuable field guide for interacting with immature employees is substantial. And the relevant point, then, is that the freedom that helps shape Inspirers in so many critical ways could also backfire and make them less effective individuals and employees.
What do Inspirers who grow up exposed to emotionally independent caregivers do with all the extra energy that’s freed from the power struggles that can take place in less tolerant family systems? Our work with Inspirers indicates that this free psychic space often gets filled by an astounding amount of creativity.
Inspirers are often inventive early in life. By the time they headed for college, several of the Inspirers I have coached told me that they had already designed products ranging from a sound-recording device that is now used throughout the music industry to a successful line of designer clothing. Over the past couple of years, an increasing number of graduate students I have spoken with at colleges across the country have told me that they identify with the Inspirer power style. Many of them have gone on to say that they have begun to view working in a large organization as a stepping-stone to starting their own business where they can focus on what will add value for others without needing to deal with the cumbersome politics that they read about daily in the business press. This trend may be due to the fact that young people have witnessed a great deal of instability in some of our most high-profile business organizations over the last few years. These comments may also reflect the fact that Inspirers rarely think in terms of careers. Inspirers are more likely to focus on visions or causes.
Some Inspirers are drawn to the arts because this is such a straightforward outlet for self-expression. What’s more, Inspirers tend to get support for their artistic ambitions early in life. For example, a young person who shows an aptitude for music in an Inspirer family system often gets an instrument and music lessons. In a different type of family system, this same child might be advised to study something more practical and be handed a math book. Those Inspirers who find themselves drawn to more traditional areas of business often approach the world of commerce from an artistic point of view. These patterns stem from the fact that in an Inspirer system, professional goals were never just monetary. These types of families encourage young people to courageously follow their dreams.
The Inspirer in Transition
Why would a company ever risk losing a talented and well-intentioned Inspirer? You’d think organizations would hang on to these employees any way they could.
Reviewing the career histories of Inspirers who ended up surprised by a pink slip gives us all an important lesson in the importance of stamina, boundaries, and good conflict resolution skills.
Inspirers rarely fight, and they avoid turf wars. This is because while their family experiences may have conditioned them to have endless vision in terms of how to improve a situation, they didn’t get much trench warfare experience in how to grapple with power struggles that have less to do with what’s right and more to do with what’s expedient. The absence of corporate survival skills can be detrimental to Inspirers and sometimes tragic for their organizations.
Another thing that can plunge Inspirers into a transitional quandary is that they often quit on a whim. When they don’t like the way things are going in an organization, Inspirers tend to be more likely to vote with their feet than dig their heels in. Don’t let the Inspirer’s focus on the greater good lull you into thinking these talented men and women aren’t demanding. The difference comes in what they demand, and Inspirers demand leadership that merits their respect. Inspirers rarely lose faith in the mission—but they often lose faith in the senior management team when they don’t walk their talk. Remember, Inspirers are conditioned to practice what they preach.
If you are trying to hire Inspirers, bear in mind that the personal integrity of your senior management team will mean as much to them as the salary of the position. While they are often modest about it, Inspirers take their power seriously and won’t lend it to causes they don’t respect. They innately understand that their presence will help shape the corporate culture they choose to support. They also understand that their values, self-esteem, and quality of life will be affected by spending a segment of their lives as part of any culture.
When an organization loses its way culturally, it can be hard to hold on to the Inspirers that may be keeping the firm together. This is because you can’t rent an Inspirer; you have to lead them. If you aren’t mindful of how your key employees treat each other and you allow an atmosphere of toxic competition to fester, your Inspirers won’t protest—they will simply leave. Once an Inspirer has decided to go, it takes more than money to get him or her to reconsider.
If an Inspirer doesn’t see that the leaders in their organization are modeling the values they expect from their employees, they may stay in their positions for the short term out of loyalty to the people who report to them, but they will eventually walk.
Losing an Inspirer has ramifications that organizations often don’t understand until he or she is gone. The departure of an Inspirer is usually a powerful example of the fact that not all employees are expendable. The motivational impact of losing a critical Inspirer can bring an organization or department to its knees and force cultural change.
The good news is that when updating the résumé becomes inevitable, many Inspirers are happy and surprised to discover that they are spoiled for choice. While people from other quadrants are furiously thumbing through their Rolodexes and arranging lunch meetings with headhunters, it’s not unusual to find the Inspirer’s phone ringing off the hook. What makes Inspirers so popular? The reason is both simple and powerful. Rather than approaching the world of work with a “what can you do for me?” attitude, the Inspirer is often focused on what they can do for others.
An Inspirer in Action
Leslie is an Inspirer whose popularity in the business community made her a political target. A partner at a prominent law firm, Leslie is a tireless advocate for women’s rights. The older of two children, Leslie comes from a literary family. Her parents are both professors. Her father is a historian who has written several popular books on the Civil War, and her mother has a doctorate in English and specializes in the romantic poets. Leslie’s little brother, Matt, is an entrepreneur who runs his own television production studio and has made some widely respected independent films.
When Leslie was growing up, dinnertime at her home was often a celebration. Leslie was exposed to a parade of artists, activists, and academics who ended up at her parents’ numerous parties, laughing around the table and sharing ideas late into the night.
From her earliest memories, Leslie had been encouraged to follow her heart and to think for herself. The result of this Renaissance upbringing was that Leslie became fascinated with protecting the rights of the less fortunate and decided that she wanted to be an attorney. Both of her parents, who just wanted her to do whatever excited her, made sure nothing got in the way of her favorite TV show: Perry Mason.
Leslie made top grades in college, played varsity tennis, and managed to get early acceptance to Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, she joined a top corporate law firm and began working her way up. Not only did Leslie become the first woman partner at her firm, she also became the youngest partner in her firm’s history.
By anyone’s standards, Leslie was a superstar. This was particularly true when it came to championing working women. When a diversity conference needed a high-profile woman to motivate the next generation, they called Leslie. When young women at her firm needed a mentor for career perspective, they called Leslie. When hardworking women in the industry needed senior-level support to get through a professional tight spot, they called Leslie. Whether the request was big or small, Leslie almost always managed to respond. Over time, Leslie had amassed the type of power that comes from being a well-known supporter of a cause that is considered important to the system.
Leslie’s concern for the challenges facing working women hit close to home when one of her colleagues, Charlotte, needed flextime to balance her professional commitments with the mounting demands of caring for a developmentally challenged son. Because Charlotte had been a top producer for the firm, Leslie was stunned when several of her fellow partners were reluctant to approve flextime for their division.
When Inspirers believe in a cause, they will walk through fire to support it. Fueled by her passion for supporting the rights of working women, Leslie tapped into the same emotional energy that had inspired her to fight for the underdog when she had started reading about political activism as a child.
In the grip of her passion for positive change, Leslie made the decision to go over the heads of the partners at her level and to take her case directly to Andy, the managing partner of the firm. This turned out to be a costly political misstep.
Andy, who was caught off guard by Leslie’s impulsive appeal, found himself flustered—agreeing to support Leslie’s demands more because he feared a lawsuit than because he agreed with her position.
Because Leslie had forgotten to go through the proper channels, Andy saw Leslie’s spontaneity as unprofessional rather than courageous. What’s more, whenever Leslie’s efforts on the diversity front landed her in the media, Andy secretly got a little jealous. Inspirers must remain mindful of the fact that they may make their colleagues (or even their boss) envious when they are consistently the center of attention. In feedback meetings, we later discovered that Andy was frequently fuming and asking, “How does she always manage to grab the spotlight when I’m the head of the firm?”
Over the course of the next few months, a series of meetings began to take place behind Leslie’s back. The agenda items: to manage the morale of the remaining women at the firm while managing Leslie out of the organization.
Leslie, who had been so focused on supporting the women in the firm that she had no idea any of this was going on, was stunned when she found out that she was being downsized. She had no idea that her behavior could be perceived as threatening by Andy and others at her firm. Like many Inspirers, she was oblivious to the fact that the industrywide attention she drew might foster envy among some colleagues. Specifically, she failed to realize that her impulsive behavior could so unnerve the Charmers and Commanders working around her. For example, before they understand their blind spots, those Charmers who are driven by the need to feel superior may lash out at an Inspirer whose star is on the rise. Commanders, who often feel justified in punishing anyone who steps outside their role in the hierarchy, can also feel triggered to trip up an overzealous Inspirer. When the urge to “save the day” gets overwhelming, Inspirers often find themselves in the danger zone. Getting wrapped up in the drama of corporate life can happen to the best of us. Sadly, when Inspirers get swept away by how much others need them, and forget the importance of operating strategically when dealing with a large organization, it can be a career killer.
Leslie reached out for coaching to make sense of it all. Through studying the power style of the Commander, Leslie was able to prepare herself to revisit the topic with Andy in a more logical and less emotional manner. At precisely the moment that a less confident person might have hemmed and hawed, Leslie’s innate self-confidence as an Inspirer came through, and she was determined to face her challenge directly.
After reviewing the power style of the Charmer, Leslie caught on quickly that Andy’s decision to let her go was rooted in emotions that he might prefer to ignore. While Andy would have liked a private meeting so that he could put the spin he chose on the situation, Leslie knew it was important to have a witness present. Leslie called Becky in human resources and asked whether, for the good of the firm, Becky could arrange a meeting where the two of them could go together to have a conversation with Andy.
After thanking Andy for taking the meeting, Leslie looked him in the eye and apologized for the lack of professional restraint she had exhibited in terms of how she had handled her reaction to Charlotte’s situation. She told him, flatly, that if she could turn back time, she would have approached the matter more diplomatically.
It’s hard to ignore the truth when the person delivering the message is grounded enough to speak with humility. While Andy had been squirming in his seat when the meeting began, he stopped glancing at his watch and began to listen carefully as Leslie succinctly and dispassionately explained how many of the top-performing women at the firm felt subtly marginalized when it came to getting paid and getting ahead. This time, Leslie wasn’t emotional. She presented some compelling examples to show Andy how it wasn’t in the firm’s best financial interest to let this trend continue.
When an Inspirer taps into his or her innate communication skills, it’s remarkable to watch how people react to the power of truth in action. By the end of the meeting, Andy had made up his mind to take diversity much more seriously. Feeling more than a little guilty about his own impulsive reaction to the situation, he also ended up giving Leslie a fabulous job reference that helped keep her career on track.
Conclusion
Because of their unrehearsed approach to life, Inspirers have an advantage when it comes to innovative thinking. They will ask questions out loud that people whose power genes predispose them to censor their ideas and feelings can’t even formulate in their own minds. Why are we in this business in the first place? Should we face the fact that this client base has simply dried up? Why don’t we try something completely different? Inspirers have an uncanny knack for perceiving what’s vital for the future survival of a business. One reason some Inspirers get ahead and stay ahead is that they are able to spot patterns that shape the big picture and have a lasting impact on any system.
We all have a stake in protecting the Inspirers within our organizations and in nurturing the strengths of the Inspirer within ourselves. Finding the right marriage of authenticity and political savvy is the key to helping the Inspirer develop a more balanced power style.