One evening this past summer as my wife Annie and I were driving out of the neighborhood, we stopped to say hello to a new friend.
As we approached her front porch, I noticed a white metal sign leaning against a column embossed with bold black letters declaring, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” When I asked our friend about it, she said her daughter had prominently displayed the sign in her home during the years she was battling cancer. I was intrigued because our son displayed the same quote in his Baltimore rowhouse having just completed years of military service. Tough situations had taught him to lace a bit of humor in whatever he did. His framed poster hung over the loo in his first-floor bathroom.
Good Advice for Board Relations
This pithy saying is good advice for a general manager. How best to work with the board of directors seems to be the main challenge many GMs face. No doubt a board can test an executive’s patience in often unintended ways. Working with nine or more type A individuals, all trying to do the right thing from their perspective, is an exercise in diplomacy for the GM. Often the GM has the best sense of the direction a club should go but only if the GM can consider the input of others to craft the best plans. Few boards rubberstamp a GM’s proposals without asking tough questions. That is their role.
The GM’s responsibility when working with the board is to foster an atmosphere of collaboration to conduct a productive strategic discussion and ultimately reach an agreement. The GM’s role is even harder if the board goes off track. The good news is that there are ways for the manager to navigate the challenges the board poses and tame an errant director or two. The state of mind that is the starting point could not be better stated then to “keep calm.”
Achieving Calmness
The state of calmness requires discipline. Achieving a calm demeanor is not just an act of will but a way of looking at the world around us. Being calm is not the goal but a means to an end. When we are calm, we think more clearly.
It is more than just the determination to appear calm. It is a principled way of thinking. It is a mindset that combines the virtue of magnanimity with a vision for the future. To stay on the right path with this outlook is the essence of what it means to collaborate and to lead. Magnanimity is an attitude of generosity, an empathy for the thinking of others, and in practice is the ability to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” When a GM masters this approach of working with the board, the GM can bear challenges calmly.
When we reach this state of calmness, we think with clarity, we are open for discussion, we are more agile with weighing the ideas of others, and we gracefully consider input. This process provides us greater understanding of a situation and prepares us to speak purposefully.
Keep Emotion in Check
The key to calmness requires not letting our emotions dominate our thinking. Developing emotional intelligence is an intentional practice and the foundation of right thinking.
All too often our emotions get the best of us and leave something less desirable in its place. The least palatable of these emotions can be classified as stress, anger, fear, arrogance and resentment, in any combination or altogether. Often these emotions are triggered when we allow ourselves to be offended. The result is poor thinking on our part and a poor impression left on observers. If we begin by doing a few things right in principle, in time we will be able to do many things well.
For a seasoned leader, it’s not when dealing with subordinates that these feelings rise to the surface, but more likely we chafe when dealing with authority, i.e., the board and officers. They have the power to direct the GM’s activities. They can affirm a desired course and strategy or expect the GM to veer off the plan onto whatever initiative they deem to be better. The perceived unfairness of it all can be disconcerting. As difficult as that may be, a GM focused on the right principles of magnanimity and vision is better able to influence discussions and resolve disagreements.
Good Advice Put to The Test
So, what is the rest of the story from the two examples at the beginning of this article? Did the admonition to “keep calm and carry on” stand the test of challenges?
Our neighbor appreciated my question about the sign and told us about her daughter. Sadly, she had lost her battle with cancer but not until she had left a foundation for her family to cling to after she was gone. Her loving husband was her strength and her three little boys her purpose. Those boys today are fine young men.
Our son, after the Marine Corps, was living what he believed was a normal life working on his degree. His experience as a Marine recon platoon commander operating in the deadly Sangin Valley of Afghanistan was still fresh in his mind. He learned the value of being a calm and dependable leader for his Marines. Through discipline and purpose, they accomplished every mission they were given. But most important to him is that he was grateful to bring all his Marines home alive.
“Keep calm and carry on” is excellent advice.
THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – November/December 2024
J.G. Ted Gillary, CCM, CCE, ECM, CMAA Fellow, Coach, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE. He can be reached via email: ted@kkandw.com.