Engagement

Interlude 4Leading with Purpose

FINDING A WAY OUT OF HELL IS often a defining moment for organizational leaders—a “crucible experience” in the words of leadership guru Warren Bennis.¹ Success requires the ability to persist when the going gets rough and to offer others an effective path forward. Successful leaders find ways to learn from negative events and help others do the same. As a result, they—and their organizations—emerge stronger and wiser, confirming to themselves and those around them that they have the right stuff for extraordinary impact.

In The Prince,² Machiavelli notes that crisis reduces resistance and opens the possibility of deep change. Vicky's challenge is finding the right course while in the middle of the storm. Her skill at using the four rules of engagement suggests that her operation can emerge as a very different and stronger workplace. When leaders learn, organizations often do as well.

1. Stop, Look, and Learn: Study People in Context

   Vicky wisely works to separate the people from the situation. Ineffectiveness that looks at first glance like a product of individual flaws is often rooted in situational pressures. When that is the case, changing the players may change nothing. Organizational roles, rules, and structures influence individual actions, sometimes in ways the actors themselves don't see.³ In cases like these, leaders need to understand and repair structural features like rules, procedures, and job descriptions.

   It is tempting, for example, ...