The Thoughtful (Yellow) Leader and Best Practice 5
Contemporary organizations need both assertive and inspiring leaders. However, today’s organizations also need decision-making leaders who are thoughtful about both the current resources of the organization and specific needs that the organization can realistically meet. Best Practice 5 focuses on responsibility and accountability. Both of these emphases require Thoughtful Golden Yellow calibration. While the inspiring leader prefers to live on the high plains, looking up at the sky, the thoughtful leader prefers to live in the forest. He prefers to dwell among things that he can touch and cultivate. A thoughtful leader likes to focus on tangible matters and likes to alter his world in a responsible and systematic manner.
Responsible and Systematic
To be responsible, requires that members of an organization are clear regarding Best Practice 5’s commitment to providing a road map to realistic organizational policies and procedures. A bit of the Royal Purple perspective is appropriate here, for the policies and procedures must not only fit with the distinctive structure and process of the organization—but must also yield the equitable treatment of all employees. Without this Royal Purple “corrective” a Golden Yellow analysis can neglect the people while providing volumes of paper and numbers.
To be systematic requires a broad view regarding the interdependency of all organizational operations. One is not being realistic if they view everything through siloed binoculars. There might be clarify regarding some specific operation, but not a clue about how this operation fits with and is influenced by other operations in the organization. To repeat the distinction offered by Miller and Page, organizations are not just complicated with many moving parts, they are complex with parts that are intimately linked to one another. Thoughtful Golden Yellow and Best Practice 5 realism dictate a recognition of complexity and a view from above and beyond organizational silos. Some Purposeful Tangy Orange assistance makes sense. Systemic analysis is only useful if it translates into thoughtful tactical and strategic planning. Maps are fine, but action requires more direct guidance (such as the steps to be taken in following the Map).
Measurement
While the assertive leader tends to consume resources and the inspiring leader brings in resources, the thoughtful (yellow) leader tends to conserve and cultivate existing resources. Best Practice 5 calibration is critical in this regard. We need to know what we have and how well we are conserving and cultivating the resources already in our possession. Empowered workforces always require the skills of measurement—as advocated in the social-technical school of organizational effectiveness. Building on the more general movement over the past century toward “workplace democracy” [x], Social Technical Systems (STS).[xi] involve systematic planning of operations within an organization—this planning (and subsequent execution) being engaged by self-managed work teams.
1K Club
