Experimenting In Your Leadership Laboratory (No Bunsen Burners Necessary)

As a leader, I do not often think of myself as a scientist.

Scientists collect data, conduct experiments, observe behavior, calibrate measuring devices, and make and test hypothesis, among many other things.

(and I have to note that I never really wanted to be a scientist, since I wasn’t very good with chemicals and bunsen burners – as the burn scar on my thumb attests)

But when you think about this for more than a minute (like I did on the 4th of July holiday weekend, for example), it turns out we have lots more in common with those folks in the white lab coats than what meets the eye.

Leading a group of people is a lot like conducting a grand experiment, where the “scientist” (the leader) fills a laboratory (the business) with test subjects (the team), and then sets up parameters, calibrates goals, and eventually makes a hypothesis on each one of them.

Then, every day, those hypothesis get tested.

If they don’t prove to be true for any individual, the experiment is adjusted and/or recalibrated, or abandoned altogether.

And there lies the real lesson in making this comparison – the leader’s ability to create the right environment for success in that laboratory, for as many subjects as possible.

To be a great scientist, one must spend a lot of time studying and observing – so too must the leader.

Each teammate brings to the table a unique set of skills, and a distinct personality.   A great leader needs to study those attributes carefully and thoroughly, and eventually determine what combination of goals, accountability, direction, coaching, influence, and inspiration they will need to set that specific person up for success.

That’s our version of a scientific hypothesis – “If I lead a person THIS way, this person will react to it in THAT way,  and they will make their expected contribution to the overall company objectives”

It’s quite a challenge, because that process has to be repeated for each member of the team.  Which means that while some elements can be commonly applied (due to similar traits and skills), for each “experiment” to bear fruit, the leader has to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

And along the way, constantly reassess and recalibrate the approach to each person based on how the original hypothesis is faring.

In practical terms, some of the most important calibrations a leader will do are:

• Pushing harder, or backing off.
• Giving more leeway, or clamping down
• Setting higher standards, or relaxing them
• Taking more time to teach, or assigning more responsibility
• Promoting, or releasing

Yes, leadership is quite a science, and the more we can approach it like one, by applying many of the methodologies you would see in a laboratory, the better leaders we can be.

I’m just glad my laboratory is an office, and I don’t have to wear those white coats, or mix chemicals, or put anything under a flame.

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Tagged as: Leadership, leadership science