The Influence of Natural Behaviour

The age-old argument about whether leaders are born or made will probably continue forever. Whatever the answer is, it is easy to see how the debate originated.

Leaders whose natural behaviour patterns are predisposed towards great leadership were no doubt born with those tendencies - and even though they will have developed skills along the way, it is their natural abilities that people will be drawn to. It stands to reason then that anyone who embarks upon a leadership role who lacks such innate qualities will have to work harder to develop the right leadership behaviours.

With that in mind (and steering well away from the born versus made discussion), it makes sense for those in leadership positions to regularly check their own natural behavioural responses, understand what these say about their own leadership style, and then reflect seriously on the development needed to ensure their behaviour is always aligned towards getting the best results from the people they lead.

I watched with interest earlier today when I observed a management team putting their natural behaviour patterns to the test. There were some interesting and valuable lessons learned.

In the exercise that had been prepared for them, the group were invited into a room where all the chairs had been stacked up behind yellow and black tape which carried the message "caution - do not cross". The team were invited to "Take a seat". Following a few confused glances, the instruction was repeated - although this time the invitation was to "Grab a chair". The responses were revealing - intuitively everyone knew that this was some sort of test. But the test was not so much about getting to the right answer as it was to assess the natural behaviour patterns that emerged in this staged setting.

Broadly speaking there were three categories of response.

Group A were happy to break the rules, or make up their own rules to achieve the result in as short a time as possible, or with the least amount of effort possible. They took chairs from behind the tape, sat on the floor, or refused to sit claiming that standing up was a much better option.
Group B explored other options to achieve the right result without breaking the rules. They went to find a chair from a different part of the office, brought it back into the room and sat on it.
Group C watched the other two groups, and tried to work out which camp they wanted to be with, then went with the majority.

The whole exercise was over in just a few minutes - but the leadership lessons learned had a profound impact. It was put to the group that their natural behavioural response to such a simple scenario is probably their natural response to any task, challenge, issue, or problem they face in their day-to-day role. So the questions they must ask themselves are -

• Do I willingly or inadvertently "break the rules" to get results?
• Do I make my own rules up, or 'move the goalposts' to suit myself?
• Do I often look for the easy option?
• Do I consistently challenge myself to get the right result in the right way without cutting corners or compromising the overall outcome for the team?
• Do I just follow others, or follow the path of least resistance?

Once all these questions have been answered, the most important question remains -

• What impact do my behavioural choices have on the performance of others?

The fact is that, whether born or made, leaders will only ever get the results they deserve based on the influence exerted from their own behaviour.