The art of leadership.

 

The art of leadership.

A long time ago, I applied for a promotion and received my first supervisory appointment. I was in charge of a group of people and had a mission to accomplish. The people all had their own ideas and were concerned about how to achieve their personal goals ahead of those of the employer. Mothers needed to raise their kids, students had to pass exams and so it went. I was representing the employer while the workers all needed the pay, but considered their personal needs ahead of the employer’s goals. I did not even have the most minimal training in supervising people. All I had was the example of my supervisors, who mostly failed. Supervisors in those days existed by threatening to fire people and often abuse workers if they could. My boss told me that supervisors were not in to win popularity contests. I assumed that success would mean workers achieving their needs by making the employer achieve the company’s goals.

I and other young supervisors were the first generations born after the war. Our elders were educated with army discipline while we learned new ideas about psychology, self-improvement, motivation, team building, and more. The employer sent us for a week of training in the Japanese methods of leadership. At the time, Japan was devastated by the war they lost, but came out of the ashes with glorious results. They built a new system based on loyalty. They built up industry, mostly car manufacturing, that successfully competed with the pride of the US automotive industry.

There was no conflict between labor and investors. The supervisor’s job was to provide the workers with what they needed and aim them toward the company being number one. The workers worked hard, were proud of their achievements, and involved their families in the company's future. American companies stumbled over each other to adopt the Japanese business model and workers enjoyed a good middle-class life. Employers also didn’t need to waste effort on micromanaging. The products gained a reputation for being reliable and cheap.

As often happens, the unions quit just trying to keep up with inflation, demanding to get ahead with less effort. Employers found ways around them and hired temporary part-time people who had no benefits and often not even a regular schedule of work. The consumers paid the price. Soon employers started searching for ways to get the work done with less or even no front-line staff. That is why we have automated cashiers, automated banking machines and so much more.

The attitude of prioritizing personal gain over loyalty to employers replaced the old way of thinking. This came with additional costs, resulting in reduced quality of products and services. Countries with loyalty won while industrial nations used intimidation as a business tool. The world changed.

If we aim at producing the most for the lowest cost, forced labor will be our choice. Slaves or machines can do that. The old colonial system worked well and made some people very rich. However, over time, it failed. The same is true for using natural resources irresponsibly. The natural disasters of 2023 are proof of it.

We've been producing too much for too long to benefit a few of us, but at the cost of workers and the environment, mainly the energy.

Another worthy goal could be to use what we have wisely and supply what we need, aiming at durable products while paying fairly for them. This could provide a good living for all and the workers can be our best consumers if they are paid well. It is a win-win situation, with long-lasting benefits for the world and the people. It can only work if the political will supports it.

We love games and admire winning. Unfortunately, we forget that for every winner, there must be a loser. For me to be recognized or rich, some others will have to be ignored and poor. Their resentment will grow, the world will suffer, and peace will not be possible. Our society may end up being another great civilization that disappeared from the pages of history if it has not already done so.

In my youth, I looked at life as a great possibility, with hope being the primary motivator. Now I look back and think, how can we salvage the most out of the mess we made? The red sun reminds me that life on Earth is a journey with a beginning and an end. My experience dictates that the only way is going together, covering each other’s backs.

My management textbooks aside, I focus on one line, not from a manager’s course or book. “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.” Another line pops up in my biological computer I call the brain. Forgive us as we forgive others. I think I have what we need to save ourselves if we choose to do so. I will let this be the ending of the article about human leadership.