Irish people prefer an approachable leadership

The Irish TimesErnst and Young Business studies series:  Week one:Leadership and management

EARLIER THIS week students enjoyed one of the rarest and most wonderful events that can happen in school life – snow days!

However, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe came under severe fire for his original decision to keep schools closed for the first three days of the week as forecast weekend blizzards failed to materialise in many parts of the country. At the same time, his reversal was slammed by opposition party Fine Gael as a “humiliating climbdown”.

And it’s not just Mr O’Keeffe who’s feeling the heat. The Government in general has been criticised for failing to provide adequate leadership during the Arctic snap, and, for that matter, during the economic crisis that first reared its head in 2008.

Perhaps Taoiseach Brian Cowen and, indeed, those business leaders trying to guide their employees through these tough times, should look to individuals who have thrived in the face of extreme adversity in the past for inspiration.

Alistair Tosh, a senior specialist in management at the Irish Management Institute, suggests leaders and managers could learn valuable lessons from an Irishman once described as “the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth, bar none”. And who was he? The Kildare-born Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Against all odds, Shackleton saved the lives of 27 men stranded for almost two years with him on an Antarctic ice floe after their ship Endurance became frozen in ice in 1915. Their survival was largely down to Shackleton’s exceptional leadership abilities.

Firstly, he was a master at keeping up the morale of his men. He made sure the crew retained their sense of humour and went to great lengths to hold small celebrations. He also gave inspiring speeches and “preached pragmatic optimism”, Tosh says.

Despite the fact that they were stranded on ice in freezing temperatures, few of his men ever doubted they would return home alive.

Another important leadership trait he possessed was the ability to make everyone feel they were part of the solution. As he wrote in his diary: “It will be much better for the men to feel that, even though progress is slow, they are on their way to land, rather than to simply sit down and wait.”

Perhaps one of the most important qualities Shackleton demonstrated was his sense of self-sacrifice, never letting his men go without a comfort that it was in his power to give.

On one occasion he noticed that one of his men had no gloves. He insisted that he take his pair, threatening to throw them away if he refused (even though he suffered frostbite as a result).

Finally, he went the extra mile – literally – to ensure that they were rescued. Together with five of his men, he undertook a treacherous journey in a small lifeboat to a whaling station on an island called South Georgia, and from there organised the final rescue of the remaining men.

“That his rescue mission included two other Irishmen – Tom Crean and Timothy McCarthy – is not incidental either,” Tosh says.

In addition to these lessons, when dealing with a crisis in a business context, managers, entrepreneurs, owner-managers, indeed anyone who is responsible for leading others, should also bear in mind that, according to research, Irish people respond better to certain styles of leadership than to others.

“We like charismatic leaders. We like people with a very short ‘power distance’,” Tosh says.

Put simply, Irish people dislike formal relationships. For example, they prefer to be on a first-name basis with their boss.

Business leaders and managers who are “good at being liked, who can ask about your family” are generally more successful, he says, because Irish people tend to be motivated by people they like and respect on a personal basis, rather than someone who uses their position as a form of power.

“We like the personal power as opposed to the positional power,” he explains.

Due to various cultural and historical factors, Irish people tend not to react well to being ordered about, and prefer the “soft sell” approach.

“It would be the exact opposite in France and Germany,” Tosh says. “The French and Germans don’t mind being told what to do. In fact it gives them a sense of purpose and structure. In Ireland, we don’t necessarily like being told what to do.”

So while very few modern-day Irish managers possess the extraordinary courage of Shackleton, simply being down-to-earth and approachable, while offering a little bit of hope, can inspire loyalty among those who work for them.

Watch Paddywagon founder Cathal O’Connor discuss management and leadership style at irishtimes.com/business or on eoy.tv, the dedicated website for the series.

Next week:franchising as a business model for growth