The Value of ‘little l’ leadership
The following was an email I sent out to the company I work at. I share here because I believe the concept of ‘little l’ leadership is something we can choose to enact every day, at our work and in our daily lives. All opinions expressed here are my own.
‘little l leadership’ at McChrystal Group (MG)
When I accepted my offer at MG, I thought I knew why it was an honor it was to be here. Confronted by the dazzling array of talent, I was (and still am) humbled to join such illustrious company. MG has assembled a star-studded cast of former military operators and leaders, a collection of brilliant, accomplished minds from industry, government, and academia, and quite the ensemble of clever and hungry youths. For somebody who’s had his nose in the books for the last 7 years, it is borderline overwhelming. At MG, the client names are recognizable, the bios of its people are superlative, and there are also a few NYT bestsellers floating around out there to rep the brand. These are the things we can point to as examples of Big L 'Leadership' and I thought this was what was so special about this company. And to be fair, they are special. Big L people, clients, books, and work are unusual in their excellence. They are transformative. They inspire us to want more from ourselves and our teams. But after working here, I don't think it's the only thing that makes MG such a remarkable place to work.
Before arriving at MG, I spent some time on a PhD which took far too much of my time and energy. I did, however, learn a few things while I was there. Because nerds have too much time on their hands, there is a large body of research that distinguishes between what is called ‘little c’ creativity (everyday creativity, like drawing and painting, but also tackling a task in a unique way) and ‘big C’ creativity (clear-cut, eminent creative contributions. These are the creative geniuses and big breakthroughs) (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009). The argument (with a fair amount of psychological evidence) is that big C creativity requires a certain minimum threshold of personality traits, but that after that, creativity is a skill and an output of consistent, laborious work, as opposed to genius insight. I believe this to be true of leadership, and I present MG as the perfect case study.
Scrambling Up a Rock in West Virginia
Pictured: Not me.
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash.
“Nice climb.”
I looked up to an outstretched fist, offering up the knucks, as the youths would say. Behind the outstretched arm, the President of the company I’d joined not two weeks ago.
“Thanks, Chris.”
We were on MGLV in West Virginia, 12 of us newer employees. As a newcomer, I was blown away by MGLV, both as an event to push myself in a team setting and as a serious investment of resources from the company. It looks and feels like massive L leadership; trip expenses, paying employees while away from work, senior leadership is always present, and these ventures happen multiple times a year, every year. Many companies might pay for an annual off site (although even that might be a stretch), but fewer would be willing to sacrifice those resources to make it happen multiple times a year. MG believes it to be worth it. And I've never heard of other companies coming close to this type of commitment to team bonding.
At first glance, what catches the eye on these ventures is the ‘flash’: the rock climbing, the shooting range, the white-water rafting, the cooking competitions. However, the true power seems to lie in the space created for little moments of connection, tiny flashes of leadership, both at the event, and in the aftermath. What is special is not just MGLV and the leadership it embodies and empowers, but how this commitment to people and dedication to leadership shows up throughout the company on a day-to-day basis.
‘little l’ leadership
Now that I’ve been here a grand total of two months, the names at MG are still impressive, the Leadership still inspiring. What makes me smile on my way to work though is a little less obvious, a little more nuanced. Like seeing through an optical illusion or finally finding Waldo, once seen, you cannot unsee it: there are moments of ‘little l’ leadership from every single person in this company. All the time. Every single day.
A shortlist of such moments that I’ve experienced in just two short months:
It is the president giving directions to a newbie on a particularly hard rock climb
It is sending a deck through that somebody might find useful in their work
It is shooting a message on Teams to say welcome
It is M4 ripping into the team for not completing their training, not taking the time to do the little things right
It is the team taking that on board and responding with 100% completion of the training
It is stepping up to lead a discussion at MGLV
It is volunteering to help plan MGLV in the first place
It is a senior leader highlighting a contribution from a young employee during a meeting
It is taking a moment with new hires to whiteboard an explanation of DC’s grid system
It is taking time out of the calendar to chat with direct reports, every single week
It is taking 45 minutes with somebody clueless (me) to whiteboard the different functions of the company and how they relate to each other
It is taking a walk with somebody clueless (still me) to explain how podcasts work, in the middle of a book launch
It is sending someone a message to thank them for their work
It is explaining a 401k to somebody unfamiliar
It is offering a place to stay to somebody new to the area
It is sending a message to the team to urge/demand relaxation over the weekend
It is inviting newer employees out for a drink when in town for a day
It is saying “reach out if you need anything” and genuinely meaning it
It is remembering somebody’s name and where their parents live
It is asking about somebody’s background to begin with
This list is by no means exhaustive, but hundreds, maybe thousands of these miniscule moments from everyday team members seem to have carved an entire company's culture, forging MG into a living embodiment of taking that extra half step, going that extra quarter mile, and bending ever so slightly backwards to serve, to reach out, to lead. Not grand gestures, but slight, meaningful ones. Constantly.
When I first joined MG, I felt grateful. I knew the stature of the group who had founded and who had built this company. I continue to be in awe of their work. I am still grateful.
It is an honor to be here. This has always been true because of what is obvious. Now, I know this to be true because of what is deep. Because of what every single person has created through their commitment, big and small, to little l leading through the everyday moments where people choose ship, choose shipmate, over self.
Thank you everyone for making it such a joy to be a part of this company. Looking forward to seeing you all in a few days time.
References
Kaufman, J., Beghetto, R., 2009. Beyond Big and Little: The Four C Model of Creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688
