You Know Leadership, Time for You to Do Leadership

If you manage people and are reading this, you probably know at least some of the basics of good leadership. But … have you consistently applied this knowledge at work, say, over the past year? If not, you may have a case of the “knowing-doing gap.” You are not alone—not even in a minority. Managers everywhere admit to a gap between their “knowing" leadership and their “doing" leadership (Ahmadi & Vogel, 2023).

A real-life story: "Crossroads Life"

Copyright Ed movie

Take Clara, the protagonist of “Crossroads Life.” “Crossroads” is a film that recounts the real-life leadership journey of an executive in a multinational organization. Newly promoted to CFO at headquarters, Clara has a confrontational meeting with 12 country managers, regarding a thorny cost-allocation issue. She has spent many long evenings poring over heaps of documents and distilling an analysis that would be fair to everyone—but instead of appreciating the work, the country managers turn against her. After the meeting, exhausted and dispirited, she chooses to skip the evening’s social activity (you can watch the scene here).

When they’ve reached this point in the film, participants in my executive development course pass a severe judgment: “A rookie mistake! It’s obvious that she needs to socialize with those managers to build trust!”

They are right, of course. Armed with a social capital/trust framework that we have just discussed in class, they believe they have “cracked the case.” But the real question for them comes next: “You took one second to spot the 'rookie mistake.' Why didn’t Clara?” To make sure they do not take Clara for a hapless exception, I next give them the example of Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, who describes an eerily similar situation in her biography (coincidentally published shortly after the filming of “Crossroads”). As senior vice-president for corporate strategy and planning, Ms. Nooyi presented quarterly forecasts for the main divisions of the company. This happened in the presence of all division presidents, who, irked that “corporate planning was trying to run the company,” kept making mean-spirited comments. Following one such meeting in London, she decided to leave right away, without saying a word to anyone (and likely missing the socializing part of the program). Looking back, she realizes it may have not been the best move: “This was very unlike me.” Ms. Nooyi was already a very senior leader, with an MBA from a top university. Why didn’t she spot the “rookie mistake” she was about to make?

To dive into this issue, I divide my course participants into two groups, “prosecution” and “defence” (respectively, to criticize and to defend Clara’s behavior). A heated debate usually ensues, with each group taking their role very seriously. Now the defence team really puts themselves in the protagonist’s shoes. They delve deeper into the case and discover a wealth of arguments where they previously saw none.

The point of the exercise is not to prove the protagonist right or wrong, but to influence participants’ mindsets, to address the knowing-doing gap. According to recent research, the reason why leaders sometimes act contrary to the knowledge they have accumulated in training may be that their mindsets are sabotaging them (Gottfredson & Reina, 2020; Hastings & Schwarz, 2022).

Mindset Types

The exercise above, and others like it, attempts to shift three mindsets that are essential to learning leadership as well as to applying what one learns:

Copyright Ed movie

1. Fixed vs. growth mindset: Leaders with a growth mindset believe in the potential for change, in themselves as well as in others. They are more likely to work on developing themselves and to apply what they know (Gottfredson & Reina, 2020).
2. Performance vs. learning mindset: Many ambitious managers have a dominant performance orientation—that is, a preference for situations in which they can show their mastery and, conversely, avoiding situations where they might look less than perfect. Although a strong performance orientation may be useful in the short term, it costs leaders in the long run. What they need is more of a learning orientation, embracing higher-risk situations as opportunities for valuable lessons (Dragoni, Tesluk, Russell, & Oh, 2009).
3. Deliberative vs. implemental mindset: People with an implemental mindset tend to think they are always right and swiftly proceed to action. Conversely, people with a deliberative mindset weigh the pros and cons and welcome alternative ideas (Gollwitzer, 2012). An ideal leader should have a healthy mix of both mindsets, so that they neither get stuck in analysis limbo nor jump recklessly into action. In practice, most leaders need a nudge toward a more deliberative mindset (Gottfredson & Reina, 2020).

By motivating course participants to find arguments contrary to their initial assessment and to truly empathise with the case protagonist, I aim to address all three mindsets above: to shift from a fixed mindset (overconfident in judging others) to a growth mindset; to encourage a learning orientation (once a new perspective on the case emerges) as opposed to a performance one—that is, wanting to be right; and to prime a deliberative mindset, rather than an implemental one, by weighing opposing arguments.

For the better part of the “Crossroads” story, Clara, too, could do with a mindset shift. She starts out by being a valued leader, but only to people like herself (ambitious, motivated by challenges, workaholic) while she labels all others as "too slow" for her: a telltale sign of a fixed mindset. She is a proud overachiever, which likely implies a performance mindset. She never asks for advice, which suggests an implemental mindset. This mindset combination underlies the knowing-doing gap illustrated in the film scene: She does not apply what she surely knows about social capital and trust. To her, the upcoming social event looks threatening and potentially humiliating. Instead, she could see it as an opportunity to build trust, or failing that, at least to observe the power balance and learn some valuable lessons.

Shifting Mindsets

There is growing evidence that leaders’ mindsets can be shifted (Hastings & Schwartz, 2021). I expect that leadership development programs will increasingly focus on this shift, and not just on imparting knowledge. Embracing mindsets that are primarily growth-, learning-, and deliberation-oriented empowers managers to narrow the gap between knowing leadership and doing it.

Leadership Essential Reads

The Real Reason Leaders Can't Switch Off

Leaders Should Stop Suppressing and Start Signaling Emotions

As you walk into the new year, here are three steps you can take:

Source: © Ed movie

1. Set your starting point and goals. What leadership behaviors do you want to change? What are your own mindsets, as you start your journey? (For each of the three mindsets described above, you can find tests online.)
2. Study yourself in action. Take a moment, maybe when you are facing a challenging situation, to watch yourself from the outside, as if you were the protagonist of your own mini-case study, like the above movie scene with Clara. What is happening? How are you reacting? How would you teach this case to students of leadership? This different perspective helps you reflect on the leadership behaviours you want to model, but, more importantly, it primes those valuable mindset shifts—and if repeated in diverse circumstances, it reinforces them, so that they become permanent. Ideally, share your mindset self-diagnosis and your case study with a coach, mentor, or just with a good friend.
3. Do it! Now that your “mindset enablers” are in position, start nailing those leadership behaviours, acting as you would wish to watch yourself in a triumphant sequel to your case study.

By the end of this year, you may just find that life beats the movie.