It is awfully easy for leaders to be trapped by the success of the past. We get so busy fighting yesterday's battle that we fail to see disruptive change bearing down on us. And we don't often have folks as willing as these two are to point out a better way. Most folks on our teams will simply nod and follow us into battle, even if they don't really agree. What we need is a Palace Fool.
As a first time facility manager, I was privileged (and lucky) to have Craig. Craig was the one person I could count on to help me see when I was on the wrong track. Craig had the courage to come into my office, close the door, sit down - and then tell me how badly I was screwing things up. Without Craig's help, I never would have learned how to lead a large manufacturing plant effectively. Craig was my Palace Fool - a Wise Fool - whose counsel I ignored at my peril. He wasn't worried about losing his job, and he knew he could handle any little fit of temper I might throw his way. He was simply focused on making sure I heard the truth.
David Maister's blog on September 19 linked to a job description for Lear's Fool. The basic function of the Fool is
"To disturb with glimpses of confounding truths that elude rational formulation. To herald the advent of cosmic shifts and to apprehend their significance. To challenge by jest and conundrum all that is sacred and all that the savants have proven to be true and immutable."
Do you have a Fool on your team? Can you nurture one? If not, seek one out among your friends. Look for that friend or colleague of yours who can play the role of "mind opener," as described by Tom Rath in Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without
Let what they tell you soak in before reacting to it. Their ideas will often disturb you - that's the point after all - so don't let your initial reaction drive them away. Ask your Fool to play Devil's Advocate before implementing that great plan of yours. And be sure to ask them occasionally how you are doing as a leader. Then listen carefully.
