The disease of poor coordination. Once leaders lose a sense of community among themselves, the body loses its harmonious functioning and its equilibrium; it then becomes an orchestra that produces noise: its members do not work together and lose the spirit of camaraderie and teamwork. When the foot says to the arm: ‘I don’t need you,’ or the hand says to the head, ‘I’m in charge,’ they create discomfort and parochialism.
Gary Hamel, The 15 Diseases of Leadership, According to Pope Francis.
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in which four feudal lords and ladies coexisted. They were required to cooperate with each other and jointly provide for the benefit of the kingdom and its people, under the newly crowned King. Despite getting along well at the personal level, the ladies and lords rarely cooperated, they merely coexisted. Why? Well, a bit – perhaps quite a bit- of ego and the ‘disease of poor coordination’.
The Lady of the Rivers, ruling over the internal waters of the kingdom, was convinced that she had the most important role. Irrigation and fast transportation, both key for production and commerce, could not take place without her. Who’d dare to second guess her? The present and future of the kingdom were in her hands!
The Lord of the Grains, master of the production of wheat, soy, maize, and chickpeas, thought it nonsensical to believe that irrigation and transportation could overshadow the very products they were intended to serve. Without grains, people and animals would starve. Forget about commerce if people are hungry! And, as he rowdily recalled any time he could, they had been watering their crops through wells for centuries. Don’t come and tell us that ‘rivers are the ‘solution’ or the future!
The Lady of the Beasts, controlling horses, bulls, cows, goats, and sheep, laughed at both but was ready to make convenient alliances as required. Who can harvest and travel without horses or oxen? Who can feed children and warriors without cows, goats, and sheep? Who can get protection against the cold without wool from the sheep? Bullocks! Although she conceded that beasts thrive on grains, she was quick to come back stating that these animals live well on grass too. Regarding water, there are lakes and ponds, and wells, to provide for them as needed. The other lords and ladies need me more than I need them, she said authoritatively.
Finally, the Lord of Stones had under his absolute control the masonry and stone cutting in the kingdom. Bridges, houses, walls, castles, stores and fortifications, barns, aqueducts, and churches could only be done with his concurrence and blessing. What good is the water if you can’t carry it through an aqueduct? How long can you live if there is no safe place to stay? How can people, territory, and wealth be defended without castles and fortifications? And who can live without serving God? Only the beasts!
This was the reality faced by the new King, and he needed them to work together, cooperate, and help each other. If they were able to do so, the kingdom would be extremely prosperous, powerful, and stable. Each of them would become even wealthier and every person in the kingdom would be better. Unfortunately, each time he summoned his Ladies and Lords, most of them found excuses. One was sick, the other had an emergency, and a third one had an accident while en route to the Castle.
Savvy as he was, the new king opted to go visit his Ladies and Lords and forge temporary alliances. He massaged their egos, highlighted the benefits they’d sow from cooperating with one another, and managed to get the kingdom running smoothly. He even got the four of them to agree, albeit just for a while, on joint projects that maximized synergies.
He managed to run a good kingdom, people were healthy and relatively happy, they were safe, and their lives gradually improved. The Ladies and Lords kept at peace and continued to coexist. Every once in a while, however, the king could not disguise some of the frustration every visionary harbor: if only they could look beyond their limited boundaries and egos? How much would they themselves benefit if they could just accept that each has a role to play and that the more they cooperate, the better they would be? How long can this shuttle diplomacy be sustained? Questions without answers soured his normally playful heart.
Several years later the now old king died. The kingdom mourned, and the Lords and Ladies paid their respects. Very rapidly, they head back to their castles to prepare for a new tug of war, like the one that had prevailed upon the coronation of the now gone king…
Please transfer this story to our context and picture the Feudal Ladies and Lords coexisting in your organization? Are you one of them? Do you have a visionary king looking after you, or it’s the opposite? Are you the King? What is the status of your kingdom? Can you be sure of its existence some years from now?
Any organization can easily fall prey to the disease of poor coordination -and pay the prize that comes with it- if we do not prioritize the company’s/agency’s mandate and goals over the egos of its leaders. If you are in a leadership position, as much as you need to be a servant leader vis-à-vis your employees, you should also be a servant leader with regard to your peers, if you want to achieve the best possible results. Look into the mirror and -please- put on check any and every prima donna behaviour… or if you don’t want to, just go sing at the Opera!