154SMART COLLABORATION
that in some organizational cultures—and even some national
cultures—there’s a reluctance to engage in this kind of storytelling.
Senior leaders worry, for example, that by recognizing one colleague,
they’ll appear to be showing favoritism. But the goal, long term, is to
help everyone develop their own stories. As a leader, you are simply
modeling a key behavior that you hope your colleagues will emulate.
Finally, you can offer some of the most powerful learning opportu-
nities when you offer direct exposure by going out into the field with
your partners. Often, senior leaders like to have top-to-top conver-
sations with clients, but if you exclude up-and-comers they’ll never
learn what it takes to have those conversations. When I was working
in McKinsey’s Johannesburg office, I saw firsthand how excellent
leaders provide client exposure. The office’s managing partner, Jon
Cummings, worked closely with the CEO of one of the region’s big-
gest companies. That executive used to call late-night meetings of a
panel of his closest advisers—an investment banker, strategy consul-
tant, PR expert, and a couple others. Jon often brought me along,
and the banker brought his junior, too. While the top guns sat at
the inner table hashing through the latest issues, we apprentices just
listened—absorbing crucial lessons on everything from how clients
interpret a shifting political climate to the ways to tactfully disagree
with a professional peer (or with the client in front of others). In the
next day or so, Jon and I would meet to rehash what we learned;
over time I may have contributed a few meaningful insights, but
mostly he mentored me for my benefit. If you can create these kinds
of learning opportunities for your juniors, you will undoubtedly
boost contributors’ ability to think like a client.
Tigers collaborating on their stools
The preceding discussion, which focused on the senior leader’s
point of view, provides an easy transition to chapter 6, which aims
at what I call the ringmaster. You know who you are: you’re the
one who keeps the tigers up on their stools, and makes them feel
glad to be part of a successful collaborative show. As noted earlier,
you have a special role to play in fostering collaboration.
So let’s turn to examining and understanding that role.
Chapter_05.indd 154 05/10/16 11:51 pm
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