Leadership as a Service – A Secret Sauce to Not Just Fill a Gap, but Thrive!

Leadership as a Service is a red hot topic right now in the business world. I just did a Google search and received 812M hits on “leadership as a service.” However, something so ubiquitous on Google can be quite ephemeral in practice. Kind of like at-home workouts via an app. Great in theory, tougher to do. True service leadership can be more achievable than you might think. Any organization that inverts the pyramid and places the customer-facing team on the tippy top with everything else as support is on their way to performing service leadership. 

How about a sea story? It seems fitting since sea shanties are the rage now on the TikToks. In a previous life, I had the pleasure of working directly for a fantastic servant leader. He created like a god, ruled like a king, and worked like a slave. But that was not the key to his effectiveness. He was able to lead small (15 folks) to large (10,000+ people) organizations using a clever philosophy he called the “Three Domains.” Put simply, the leader of any organization must work in three domains: 

1. What is our core business?
2. How do we interact with external agents or agencies?
3. How do we operate internally?

He always said, “you have to dance with the one that brought you.” Thus, his first domain was “what are we here to do” and “how do we support the people on the front lines?” He always insisted that his staff or command absolutely understood what product our customer wanted, that we would be able to create this product or service and be able to sell and bill for the product. Of course, the U.S. Navy is not a business, but sometimes business rules were applicable. It all sounds deceptively easy, but all too many businesses treat their success as a hunting license and stray from their core competencies. One of my favorite examples is Bic Perfume. That’s right, the Gallic folks that are flawlessly successful at selling disposable lighters and ink pens tried their hand at perfumes in the 1980s. 

“In 1988, BIC tried to enter the market of perfumery, selling small bottles of perfume in tobacconists [shops]. It was a huge failure, mainly since the image of luxury and glamor, related to perfumes, didn't fit with BIC's brand image and products. They discretely pulled it off the shelves in 1991.”[1]

Who else thought it was a bad idea for a disposable ink pen and lighter manufacturer to wade into the high-end fragrance market? Oh, that is right, everyone. My sainted servant leader stated this over and over: “First things first – what are we here to do?” Each organization must determine why it exists – to sell manufactured products, provide management expertise, or to sink submarines? Whatever we are supposed to be doing, all roads should lead to those people and activities making the product and delivering it. It was his priority in all areas and subsequently became everyone’s priority. We obsessed over the bottom line and the core competency of the organization. After articulating our reason for existing, inside and outside the organization, he shared that reason with every subordinate player. He articulated what is their role in the zoo, what they are supposed to be doing about it. Then and only then, he focused on his Second Domain: Riding the Fence lines. 

He described "Fence Riding" as working the organizational interfaces. Instances, processes, and arraignments in which the organization interacts with external organizations, agencies, and groups. He would personally interact (in person, call, messages, etc.) with all the organizations, agencies, higher headquarters, and lower headquarters at least once a week. He showed us how to present ourselves up and down the food chain and how we could help other agencies surf the wave of success with us. He was militant about being helpful to all the external stakeholders and getting them to buy into his vision of the world. It was masterful to watch him work the issues with folks that other leaders would routinely ignore or take for granted.

After all that, we finally focused on the Third Domain: Internal operations. He expertly managed the "things" that make the organization "run.” Note I wrote “managed.” Management and Leadership are two different but interrelated skill sets. Just like electromagnetic propagation, you cannot have an electric field without a magnetic field (and vice versa) pushing that lonely little photon along. He would get all the stakeholders together, break out internal processes by traditional functions, sort of a naval Business Process Reengineering. The icing on this optimization cupcake was "if we can create a climate, where leaders at all levels can lead, the organization must and will grow [in productivity, effectivity, etc.]" It was a simple leadership philosophy. It was systemic and somewhat counterintuitive as it did not directly focus on productivity, efficiency, or effectiveness. It went after productivity indirectly, almost obtusely.

His challenge to all leaders at all levels was to be "better." The challenge was theirs: to be better than they are now (ownership of change). The challenge was to grow in productivity and effectiveness (vision of future success). The challenge belonged to every formal and informal leader in the organization (inclusive rather than exclusive) from junior Petty Officer to the Captain of the largest warship. As he often said, “I am creating a thousand leaders on a thousand hilltops." He let them know, in person if possible, that they had his trust and confidence to: 

• Lead (encouraged initiative, even if their activities were not traditional)
• Fail (toleration of honest mistakes) 
• “No matter what, do the right thing.” He had a deep and unshakable belief that people are inherently good and strive to be better - given the opportunity. 

He usually found the following four issues that needed quick attention:

• Creating Job Satisfaction: providing meaningful and satisfying duty, as well as the best working conditions (best as possible given the factors within his control)
• Organizational Consistency and Reinforcement: pay, incentives, public rewards for great behavior, as well as swift but private punishment for bad behavior. He helped his leaders articulate goals, set priorities, and follow through on actions.
• Reducing Job Stress: he always helped them articulate what it means to succeed and held them to their own goals. In his experience, a lot of job stress was caused by a lack of understanding of what was expected of them and when.
• He was also keenly aware of Off-The-Job Influences. All of his shipmates had families and off-duty interests. Unlike me, they had a life outside the Navy, and he worked tirelessly to ensure their jobs did not overwhelm their off-duty lives. He also challenged us (his staff/command) to provide healthy outlets to job stress beyond drinking and fighting. He always helped us organize inclusive activities that reduced job stresses, included family and friends, and provided positive outlets. He was a great Servant Leader.
• Finally, he routinely said, “turn feedback into insight. If you aren’t thinking about why people are complaining, then you aren’t thinking.” To be fair, at many times he specifically told me, “Son, your thinking hurts the team.” 

So, now you know his secret sauce to success. He would challenge you to work your three domains, develop a relationship with the folks that support your goals, and let leaders lead, wherever they are in your organization. What is your secret to success? What? You don’t have one? How about giving his ideas a whirl? His methodology worked in the Navy as well as in the corporate world. He took a humble credit union and helped transform it into a $100B gorilla. You can too, I know it. I look forward to reading about your profile in Fortune. If you have a temporary vacancy or are looking to bring on a technology and business expert to not just fill the gap but push the business forward, the technology experts at LTA are ready to help.

  [1] Brand Journal Blog, WEBEDIA, 1 place Occitane, 31000 Toulouse, France, November 22, 2014, available[online] at http://brand-journal.over-blog.com/2014/11/class-5-brand-extension.html#:~:text=By%201988%2C%20BIC%20tried%20to,%2C%20simple%2C%20cheap%20products), accessed January 21, 2021.