We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.
Benjamin Franklin
Rope is an incredibly simple but amazingly versatile tool. Imagine a world without it—no sails raised on tall ships to harness the wind and conquer the oceans, no massive stones transported miles to construct spectacular pyramids, the highest mountain peaks left unscaled. For millennia, rope has hoisted laden pails from wells, rescued hapless wanderers from deep crevices, secured the beams of modest dwellings, and flown our proud banners. Even humble laundry, when hung on rope, can dry with a whip of the wind in the warmth of a summer day.
Like any multipurpose tool, however, rope has its dark uses. Rope can truss limbs—securing animals for the slaughterhouse and humans for bondage. Yes, rope can restrain us from danger and can maintain order even in the largest crowd, but it also restricts our free movement, marking forbidden perimeters and enforcing confinement. And in the darkest chapters of human stories, rope can be used to take life.
Surprising as it may be, I wielded a lot of rope as a professor and as a boss. The rope I doled out was figurative, but it was as handy as the real thing, useful for climbing high and for swinging low.
Ascending with Rope
Let’s start with the positive. True leaders give plenty of rope to their teams with the explicit understanding that the rope is for climbing. Most individuals will readily grasp the challenge, and the wise leader will offer encouragement and guidance as they ascend.
Similarly, during my tenure teaching college writing, I prompted students with topics that required them to formulate their own claims and construct their own persuasive arguments. Some colleagues frowned at my permissiveness, scoffing that I did not “offer enough scaffolding,” which is a euphemism for giving students a prescriptive structure. And believe me, the students wanted that structure. I can hear their indignant wailing in my mind even to this day: “Just tell us what you want us to write!” In truth, their learning depended upon them crafting their own logical framework as they mastered the writing process. It was the very point of the course.
Prescribed formats, which they often encountered in high school, curtailed students’ opportunity to think and express themselves freely and clearly, which is what writing is. Constructing an effective framework is key to writing. It compels students to recognize, analyze, and solve problems—the very core of critical thinking. Writing an effective essay is not a rote exercise.
Lest you conclude that I simply set students loose on open-ended topics and said, “have at it,” let me explain. Early on in my teaching, I shifted from giving students too much prescription to offering too much autonomy, only to see them struggle and fail in both instances. Eventually I learned to balance student autonomy with substantial assistance from me. This way they learned to be successful writers.
So, here’s the connection to leadership. Just as good teaching requires a balance of trust and direction, good leaders empower their people with the autonomy to get things done while providing a guiding hand. The leader, like the teacher, delineates the project from the outset—defining clear objectives and sticking points—while fostering independence. Intentionally blending autonomy, goals, and challenges is how you concoct the motivational elixir that Daniel Pink describes in his excellent book Drive. A great leader doesn’t provide ready-made solutions but unleashes their team’s potential to discover their own path.
This method will resonate with your high-performing employees, but it will also appeal to many less-seasoned team members who will welcome the opportunity to learn, try, and achieve. Like a skilled teacher, a good leader will stick close in order to provide support but not interfere unnecessarily. It’s a team effort, but the great leader will cede authority and control to the able employee. The team member then has the opportunity to learn to succeed and to learn to lead.
Descending with Rope
Then again, there’s the dark side to the figurative rope. Granting so much rope to people can lead to entanglement or worse. An attentive teacher will look out for such students, but they can be elusive. Some just want to hang, almost insisting on it.
As a professor, I strived to make the choice clear: the rope I offered was for climbing, but hanging was always an option. Most got the message, yet despite my best efforts, a few often chose to take their chances, usually finding themselves dangling at the end of their rope. In contrast, the climbers, even the ones that didn’t reach great heights, always learned quite a bit.
They learned to construct a logical argument, for one thing. They also found that being free of prescribed structures was actually freeing. Finally and most importantly, they discovered the power and empowerment of self-reliance and of their ability to solve problems.
As I have noted many times, leading and teaching are virtually identical.
The same skills and methodologies underpin each. Think of some really great teachers you encountered at any level. What made them so effective? Those very qualities are the stuff of great leadership, whether it involves giving lots of rope or mindfully listening. Once again, we see that teaching and leading are bound together, intrinsically entwined, weaving a tapestry of wisdom and success. And the proper handling of rope is vital to both.
How well do you handle rope as a leader? How have you handled the rope you were given as a student?
Great leaders must strategize around how much autonomy they can grant and how much guidance to offer, and I can help.
If you want to learn more about how to become a great leader in this world of bad bosses, visit GuidanceForGreatness.com.
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