Knowing When to Get Out of the Way
By Daniel Robin
The prior article points to the advantages of servant leadership, and the downsides of heroics (see Leadership in Action: Part 5). There will be times when serving others means backing off. Gone is the expectation that people cannot function without a being told what to do. No longer do smart leaders stand on the sidelines encouraging performance, unintentionally interfering with the desired results.
To illustrate this, I’d like to offer the story of a rather dramatic birthday party.
Golden Gate Leadership Lessons
It was May 24, 1987, the 50th Anniversary of the opening of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. More than a quarter million people had come out that day to honor the magnificent structure. Cars were not allowed, so flocks of people arrived to occasion a walk from the Sausalito side to San Francisco and back – right down the center lane. Not surprisingly, a similar horde embarked from the San Francisco side. Innocently walking or biking across, these two groups began to collide somewhere near the middle. By noon, like two competing weather systems, thousands of people suddenly found themselves wedged into a mid-bridge entanglement … an unplanned claustrophobics convention … a seriously tight spot. I was one of them.
When you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of people all pushing against each other, going nowhere, the key is not to panic.
Excuse Me … Comin’ Through …
To this day I have no idea what law of physics was at play, but this snarl of humanity, complete with motorcycle cops, bicycles, and strollers … stayed stuck for what seemed like hours, helpless to unravel the knot that bound us. The bridge swayed and sagged under our weight. The normally convex bridge actually flattened out; some thought it was going to collapse. With all our strength, we leaned against each other in a futile attempt to burst through to the “other” side. This clearly wasn’t working. Some people’s feet left the ground as the crowd rocked and shoved. Fear and panic had begun to set in. Some yelled, a few cried; I scratched my head in amazement and felt helpless.
On the surrounding walkways, people gathered around in curiosity, occasionally trying to organize and unscramble the enmeshment. With good intentions, a few of these people assumed a leadership role, shouting instructions like: “Everyone who is going South, move to your right; everyone going North, you also move right!” Nice theory. The turmoil and confusion of the group resisted all outside influence, and recommendations were met with jeers and boos from those of us in the center, returning angry crossfire like “Clear the sidewalk, you idiot, and get out of our way!” and “ … you’re part of the problem!” or “Go home and organize your damn closet, not us!”
Release Us from Ourselves!
From a systems perspective, conflicting objectives and too much chaos caused a crisis. What would you have done?
Eventually the fear subsided and people were released from this self-made, human gridlock. I’ll never forget the sideliners trying to call the shots, actually making the problem worse through their efforts.
So, what’s the lesson in all this? Avoid walking across overcrowded bridges? Perhaps. But the lesson might also be
- Notice where people really need help, and give it, even if that means getting out of their way, or giving them room to breathe and find their own way out of a mess.
- Make sure we’re heading in compatible directions … but expect the unexpected.
- Prevention is still better than cure, but when there’s nothing you can do, relax.
It would have been nice to be saved, rescued by someone on the sidelines, someone who could see the bigger picture that we had missed. However, that day, there was no bigger picture … we were all a part of the same problem. An airborne “consultant” might have come in handy, but alas, they’re never around when you need them!
