Leading Is Getting Out of the Way

Brand Leadership is Revealing Rather than Telling

by Jeremy Nulik

Kathy had lost everything. At least, that was how it seemed.

After some hard times in her life, the unthinkable happened. The home that contained her lifetime of memories was severely damaged by a fire. The artwork, the photos, the letters – most were thought to be gone.

Shortly after first responders had put out the fire, a few folks from a restoration company met with Kathy. She told them the story – about what the contents of the home meant to her. She told them that those memories were all she had. The restoration crew got to work immediately. They combed through the more than 95-percent destroyed dwelling to unearth even the smallest trinket.
Weeks later, Kathy was able to view the items they recovered. And she was astounded at the number of memories still intact after such destruction. Seeing those treasures again gave her a renewed spirit to look forward – to get back to her life.

This story about Kathy was told to an audience of more than 80 people who work for the restoration company – Woodard Cleaning and Restoration. Kathy and her sister Carolyn had written letters to Woodard in the weeks following the fire. They were so heartfelt and real that the company’s president, Justin Woodard, decided to make certain that the story was told directly from Kathy to all employees.

The venue for the storytelling was an already-established Woodard ritual, a Legendary Service Awards (LSA) meeting. The intention of the monthly ritual, which has been in place since the 90s, is to reward employees who go “above and beyond” in the course of doing their jobs. During this particular LSA, Justin made an intentional decision. One that may seem small or insignificant, but one that speaks to the role of leadership within an organization and one that helps to make real the connections between mission, culture and marketing.
He decided to have Kathy and her sister tell the story directly to the audience.

You see, the purpose of Woodard, as created by leadership reads: We help people get back to their lives. This purpose is understood in the abstract to be authentic to the brand and the people in the organization. However, leadership, and, specifically, Justin, has run into issues. One is that it sounds too lofty. When you are cleaning carpet or furniture, it is hard to connect that activity to “getting people back to their lives.”

When the opportunity to relay Kathy’s story such as this was presented, Justin saw that he could help people connect those dots. And he did it through using a cultural ritual already established – the LSA. Instead of standing and delivering from his viewpoint what this story represents, he let the story do the work. He got out of the way.

The impact of this leadership decision has been far-reaching. During the LSA ritual, there was not a dry eye. People connected to the human need being served. Something interesting to note is that those restoration specialists were not doing anything out of the ordinary with Kathy’s home. They were just “doing their job.” But this story helped them to see that they were doing something much more.

Now, when the call comes in that a home is damaged, the representatives no longer see some abstract customer. They see Kathy. They see the person that they can help to get back to their lives. That concept is tangible. And that kind of mental model – that connection of activity to purpose and meaning – is what most people lack.

Your role, as a leader in your organization, is to help reveal and make tangible what you vision. Much of what is commonly understood as leadership has to do with authority and power. But, if you hope to align the people in your organization around something bigger, your job is not to change them. Your job is to help them connect their activity to what you vision in the world.n

Jeremy Nulik (jeremy@bigwidesky.com) is evangelist prime at bigwidesky, a human business consultancy, in St. Louis, Mo.