There was a popular television program in the States called “New Amsterdam.” It was about an inner-city mega-hospital that gets a new medical director. As he is making his mark on his new team, his oft-repeated line is “how can I help?” What a powerful line for a new CEO to adopt, or for that manner any leader at any stage in their tenure.
There are many different leadership styles. Some leaders are autocratic, some visionary, some micro-managers, and others see their role as a coach. All of these approaches are potentially successful, but they all share a common theme of the leader being the smartest person in the room. These leaders are essentially telling everyone the ‘answer’ with varying degrees of directness, but in all cases, the leader knows the answer and is guiding the team toward it. While the word ‘leader’ clearly implies you are setting the path for others to follow, you should not assume you have to tell them how to walk.
Leaders need to lead, but they also need to support and provide space for smart people to grow and apply their knowledge and skills to solve problems. A CEO needs to be committed to hiring the best people in each domain. These are experts who presumably will add value to the corporate village because they know more than the CEO about their chosen field. The CEO has to trust them to do the job they were hired to perform.
So, back to the simple question ‘how can I help?’ What a powerful message it sends. It is embodied in what is known as the ‘Servant Leader’ style. With a qualified team, asking this simple question of employees at all levels of your organization makes them feel respected, appreciated and valued. It demonstrates that the CEO is a member of the team and is there to help them succeed. It follows a rule I try to embrace to ‘ask first, then tell’ instead of ‘tell first, then ask.’ We have all experienced a situation where an executive or board member tells you what you should be doing before they ask you what you are doing. It is demeaning. Starting with the simple question ‘how can I help’ will elicit an answer to the question about ‘what are you doing,’ but in a non-threatening manner.
I recently wrote about how a CEO cannot succeed if they try to do it all by themself. As an organization grows the CEO has to step away from being the center of the corporate universe. Putting the right executives and managers in place, who know what to do and how to do it, allows the CEO to evolve to a more supportive role. That does not mean the CEO has to abdicate their role as visionary. Ultimately, they remain the place where the buck stops, but moving out of the center leads to a more collaborative style where the contribution of others is respected and welcomed. ‘How can I help’ conveys a message that says ‘I know you know what to do, so how can I help you get it done.’ It is an offer, by the CEO to empower a valuable team member to be a leader, and it makes it safe to ask for help. For a new CEO or board member joining an existing company, the question is a self-effacing recognition that you respect the experience of the existing team and want to join the company to help it succeed, instead of acting like the new sheriff in town who is coming in with all the answers - ‘ask first.’
Most of the best leaders I have ever known have self-confidence in what they know and self-awareness and the humility to recognize what they don’t know. They are unafraid to acknowledge a team member for their superior expertise, and they are content to take direction in response to the ‘How can I help’ question. There is great strength in being humble.
How can you help?