Leadership from Unexpected Avenues

Last month I attended the annual LEADership conference (Me2We) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business along with 400 fellow participants, faculty and course facilitators.

I volunteered to organize a Motorcycle tour for participants flying in from different parts of the world. It was a great day with a bit of everything - sun, rain, wind and hail! We rode through the Redwood forests and along the Pacific Highway clocking over 150 miles.

As I reflect back on our tour, the conference and the theme - “Leadership from Unexpected Avenues”, I noticed some commonalities for us as LEADers. Here is my attempt to connect the dots between riding a motorcycle and leading a change.

Know your machine.

Always do a 5-point check before riding a motorcycle (tires, brakes, electrical, fluids, chain).

Spend time understanding your customers and your team. What do they say? How do they feel? What keeps them moving? Make sure that you are checking frequently.

Look ahead.

Look where you want to go.. at least 10-15 seconds ahead. 

Maintain a long term vision while addressing immediate needs of running a business and managing a team.

Communicate your intent.

Use proper signals, brake light and lane position. Clearly communicate while slowing down, changing lanes or coming to a stop.

Research shows that managers are not clear as they would like to believe. Be deliberate, do more.

Identify and separate multiple hazards.

It's easy to get overwhelmed with multiple issues while leading a team in a complex and dynamic business. Objectively separate and prioritize the issues using tools such as Eisenhower Decision Matrix. Understand the difference between important and urgent. Deal with each issue separately.

Be visible.

Wear bright and reflective clothing, use headlight and ride in the best lane position to see and be seen.

As a leader you need to be seen by the team, leading from the front, riding along the side or covering from the back.

Stay within the sight.

Your intention may be to set a high standard for quality of pace for the team. But others can become spectators and give up when they cannot keep up.

Stay within the sight so the team doesn’t give up or get lost. Slow down if needed so they can catch up.

Maintain adequate space cushion.

The best protection you can have -all around your motorcycle is "space cushion". You need time and space to react to unexpected situations and demand.

Allow yourself and the team more time to think and space to explore.

Search, Evaluate and Execute (SEE).

Experienced motorcycle riders remain aware of what is going on around them.

They improve their riding strategy by using SEE, a three-step process for making appropriate judgements and applying them correctly in different situations.

Slow, look, press and roll.

Riders often try to take curves too fast. When you cannot hold the turn, you end up crossing into opposite lane or going off the road.

Slow down, look and lean together with the team in the direction you want to go. And then roll.

Look through the turn.

While negotiating a corner, start from the outside the lane, then move inside and finish the curve from outside.

This technique straightens the curve, gives a better angle of the view, increases cornering confidence and cornering enjoyment.

You do not need a therapist if you own a motorcycle, any kind of motorcycle! - Anonymous

So enjoy your ride and arrive safe!

Abhijit

Special Thanks to Police Lieutenant Saul Jaeger and friends from Mountain View Police Department for hosting the event and riding with us.

References:

• Dept. of Motor Vehicle, California
• Motorcycle Safety Foundation
• Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter