by Bruce LaRue, Ph.D. and Jim Solomon

An Integrator Leader creates a clear compass heading for their team while helping them develop the map to get from here to there. Follow these tips to prevent getting caught in some common traps often experienced by even the most seasoned leaders.

Avoiding the High Producer’s Trap

The High Producer’s Trap is one of the most common “prisons” holding leaders and their organizations captive today. This occurs when individuals are promoted into leadership because they have been very good at producing results. In our experience, the assumption many leaders mistakenly hold at this point is that what got me here (my strength as a producer) will get me where I want to go in becoming an effective leader. They further assume that they were put in charge because they were the smartest person in the room. Here is where the strength of the leader becomes their weakness. An Integrator Leader’s job is not to produce results. Rather, their job is to build teams and organizations that can self-organize to accomplish their mission—in effect becoming operational advisors and force multipliers for the leader. Further, unlike during industrial times, the knowledge-based organizations of today are composed mainly of knowledge workers who know more about their job than their boss. This means that the boss is rarely the smartest person in the room. One of our clients said it best: “If I’m the smartest person in the room, I’m in the wrong room.”

Leaders who try to maintain authority by attempting to be the smartest person in the room, are often the most insecure. To compensate, when they feel challenged, they are quick to remind everyone who’s boss. These leaders tend to have difficulty recognizing and rewarding others’ accomplishments may try to limit information and communication flows within and between teams (creating knowledge silos), and frequently take credit for the ideas of others. If allowed to go unchecked, these leaders create a dysfunctional culture of dependency where all roads lead to the boss’s desk, effectively making the leader a single point of failure for the organization.

Caught In The Trap

Those caught in the High Producer’s Trap often feel threatened by people they perceive to be smarter than themselves, effectively becoming gatekeepers that chase away the best talent while dumbing down the team over time. The best people begin to feel increasingly disempowered as they realize that they cannot make decisions without the leader’s consent and are unlikely to get credit, recognition, or rewards for their efforts. This creates a “salute and obey” culture rather than a climate of empowered and engaged workers.

Growing Beyond the Founder – Organizational founders often begin with a powerful and inspiring vision that attracts people to their cause. If it makes it through its early entrepreneurial stages, the organization goes through a set of predictable phases. At one critical juncture, the organization grows beyond the capacity of the founder to manage it. This leads to the founder exerting more control, thereby limiting the ability of the organization to grow. At some level, the founder may know that they must let go of the operational rains by developing appropriate structures and processes, and delegating authority to others in the organization. Yet when things do not go according to their plan, the leader will often blame others for the failure and then take back control, thus putting in motion a vicious cycle referred to by Ichak Adizes as the Founder’s Trap. At this point, the founder becomes both the greatest asset and the biggest liability of the organization.

The Integrator Leader

Remaining in either the High Producer’s Trap or the Founder’s Trap can cause irreparable damage to the organization as — in both cases — your best talent leaves in search of better opportunities.
The way to avoid these traps is to focus instead on becoming an Integrator Leader. As you learn to operate this way, your current job becomes easier as your team learns to self-organize behind your intent. When we teach people to become an Integrator Leader, we bring out the very best in their people, too. This operational intelligence leads to a more innovative and productive workplace. Integrator Leaders believe they exist merely to help their team succeed. They become mentors and coaches to their staff, helping people learn to self-organize to accomplish mission objectives. Integrator Leaders have high standards and a way of continually raising the bar that brings out the very best in people, who often surpass their expectations. And finally, Integrator Leaders realize that any recognition they receive comes as a direct result of helping their teams succeed. They take no credit for success themselves but constantly give it back to those around them, building a vital sense of trust and commitment within the team

Learn more from our team at Chambers Bay Institute and our latest book “Seeing What isn’t There – A Leader’s Guide to Creating Change in a Complex World”