By Anne Marie Thompson, Attorney-at-Law and former Labour Commissioner
Don’t stop reading. You will also enjoy The Perfect But … https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-But-Kingston-Swatikin/
Many people resist the idea of leading from behind. It feels like surrender. It seems like stepping out of the spotlight and into irrelevance. Leadership, after all, is often imagined as standing at the front; being visible and decisive; and commanding attention. But isn’t this a bit misleading?
For many, leadership is defined by a shared vision, ethical conduct, teamwork, and a quiet but impactful presence that results in outstanding achievements.
A junior employee does not merely hear a manager’s words, but they are there observing that manager’s conduct, habits, and instincts. They notice who speaks first, who steps aside, who takes, and who gives. They remember the smallest things. And those small things linger and matter.
Perhaps the question is not whether you lead from the front, but how you lead whether from the front, the side, or from behind.
So, you are a manager. You are walking up a flight of stairs to your office while an employee walks down. There is a brief pause and a shared glance. Who breaks the silence? Who greets the other?
So, you are a manager. You and one of your junior staff entered the lunchroom at the same time. You both walked side-by-side to the buffet line. Should you allow your staff to go in front of you in the line and be served before you? Suppose you did not, and you reached the dessert section first. There is one slice of strawberry-topped, chocolate-dripping cheesecake left, do you take it or do you leave it for your staff? These are not trivial moments. They are quiet tests. Unannounced. Unavoidable.
• DARE YOURSELF TO BE AS TRUE AND AUTHENTIC ON THE SIDELINE AS YOU WOULD BE ON THE FRONTLINE OR IN THE SPOTLIGHT.
The multi-million-dollar contract nearly slipped through our fingers. If it did, it would have been a disaster for our company. I am sure that many people, including myself, would have lost their jobs. Our company is in the consultancy business, and the market is very competitive.
Months of negotiations had drained our four-member project team. But it was worth it, as our company was offered the most coveted project management contract by a very well-known international university. We began with a bang but afterwards progress became slow and uncertain. Then came the warning. If the University’s Board of Governors failed to unanimously approve our proposal, the University would reopen the tender.
There was a problem. During our own internal assessment, we uncovered the truth. There was insufficient long-term funding. Without it, the University would struggle to attract top talent, procure cutting-edge equipment, or expand its IT faculty to support the project. The vision was ambitious. But the foundation was weak. To make this work, we needed to bring in reinforcements. If we could solve the problem, we could change everything. We were on the edge, and the University knew it. So, we decided to make a bold and somewhat risky decision. This reminds me of the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Our project leader, Mark, reached out to the local Chamber of Commerce, proposing a partnership they had not been expecting. This was a one-of-a-kind and potentially lucrative investment opportunity to help fund the University’s Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research Centre.
At our next project meeting with the University, several prominent business leaders joined us to make the pitch. They spoke with conviction, offering not just ideas, but commitment. They addressed concerns before they could fully form, answered difficult questions without hesitation, and held the undivided attention of the room. You could feel the shift. Something had changed. These leaders would invest in the Centre as strategic partners.
Less than a week later, we held a contract signing ceremony at our office and of course the University was well represented . It was a defining moment for our young company. In fact, it was quite an accomplishment that left our more established competitors stunned. It’s so funny because success has a way of revealing more than failure ever does.
On the day of the signing Mark was not at work. He had a prior commitment, but not just any commitment. Mark and his wife, Betsy, were attending their six-year-old daughter’s first performance in her school’s Nativity play. It was a happy-sad occasion because Emily, their only child, was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Yet, despite everything, Emily was radiant, bubbly, joyful, and full of life. She played one of the angels in the Nativity, and there was something deeply moving about that. At the office, Emily would often rehearse her lines. No one ever interrupted her. No one ever wanted to. She passed shortly after the Nativity.
At the signing ceremony, the University was well represented. The President was there, along with one of the Vice Chancellors, the Dean of the IT Department and a few of their engineering and IT students . After the speeches, the signing, and the photographs, the Dean of the IT Department, Mr. Kwasinkae, handed me four gift bags as a token of appreciation for our team. Mr. Kwasinkae was a witty and charming elderly gentleman, whose patience and encouragement had played a significant role in our success.
The gifts bags felt heavier than expected. Being curious, I took a quick look inside the bags. Each bag had one T-shirt, one tote bag, one baseball cap, and two mugs. As I adjusted the bags in my hands, I noticed more items. Each bag also had no fewer than six pencils, three keyrings, two pencil cases, and two small digital clocks. These gifts were all branded with the University’s name and logo.
I placed all four bags on the desk of my manager, Mr. Crakes, before escorting our guests to the car park. When I returned, instead of going back to his office, I decided to step out for lunch. By the time I came back, he had left for a meeting. I made a mental note to collect the bags later.
That evening as I was about to leave the office, as I approached Mr. Crakes’ office, he met me at the door. The bags were in his hands. Something felt off. He opened them one by one and showed me the contents. From each bag, he placed the following items on his desk: one cup, one keyring and one pencil. Nothing more. In that moment, a quiet realization settled in. He didn’t know that I had already looked inside the four bags. He didn’t know that I knew. “How disgusting,” I thought, but I said nothing. He smiled and asked, “Which do you want?” I hesitated, caught between disbelief and restraint. “The mug, please,” I managed. I asked him to keep it in his office until the next morning. Forcing a polite smile, I said “Thank you, and have a good evening.” I saw him placed the cup on top of the filing cabinet.
The next day, I was busy and didn’t get to his office until the afternoon. The cup was not on the top of the filing cabinet. It was nowhere to be seen. Over the next few days, when I asked Mr. Crakes for the mug, be pretended or seemed not to hear. As he was my manager, I didn’t push the issue to annoy him. He can be thin-skinned.
The other gift bags were gone as well. There were no signs of them anywhere in the building. On one occasion, I heard Mark asked about the bags. Mr. Crakes changed the subject immediately. By the end of the week, I told myself to let it go. And eventually, I did. But not without reflecting.
“Karla, don’t get distracted by the little things in life. Be always careful of how you handle things that are seemingly small or insignificant. Also, try always to be transparent in all you do. You may not be aware, but somebody is always looking on — from a distance or from behind and what they see can colour or change their perception of your – good or bad. Be kind. Be considerate. Be honest. Above all, be a servant-leader.”
But what did Mr. Crakes do with my mug and the other gifts in the four bags? This question was answered last Saturday when I met him in The Mall with his wife and two children. They were all wearing the T-shirts and baseball caps and carrying the tote bags – gifts that the University gave to the project team members, who never got them.
Don’t stop reading. You will also enjoy The Perfect But … https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-But-Kingston-Swatikin/