Grassroots Leadership

by John Keyser

Grassroots Leadership is a philosophy that empowers every individual to share the responsibility of achieving excellence.

This is a seldom used term, yet it indicates an important principle – that we must value our people, our team members.

In my experience, nearly every company says their most important asset is their people. However, in many of these companies morale is low as the top managers tend to be in meetings nearly all day long and stay in the executive areas. They are focused on spread sheets and numbers and not their people. As a result, the ideas of their people are not being heard. Nor are they able to mentor or coach their people. Often the professional development of their team members is not a high priority and this impacts morale.

There is a worthwhile book titled It’s Your Ship, about Michael Abrashoff, a young officer who was given command of the USS Benfold, a ship in our Pacific Fleet. Morale was low, really low.

Abrashoff understood that command and control management style would not work. He needed to earn the hearts, minds and loyalties of everyone on the ship. He needed their commitment and for them to be a cohesive team.

He had conversations with every single person on the ship, from the most senior to the most junior, newest recruit. He asked them for their ideas and he listened appreciatively, to understand and learn. There are important principles to take from Abrashoff’s leadership, for example:

• A leader does not simply listen, she hears what she is being told.
• A leader must model the attitude and behavior that she wants her team members to have.
• A leader must trust her people, which will lead to earning their trust.

As testament to Grassroots Leadership, USS Benfold turned out to be the most highly regarded ship in the fleet and had the most crew members promoted. Rebecca Johnson is a highly accomplished physical therapist with numerous degrees and heads Body Gears in Wheaton, IL. She often speaks about the impact of GrassRoots Leadership and has taken a six session course in it.

Rebecca plays a critical role in fostering an environment at Body Gears that “empowers every individual to share the responsibility of achieving excellence”. She herself is a life long learner and knows the value and importance of being mentored personally.

Learning from her colleagues is particularly important to Rebecca. Body Gears has created a culture where every person routinely contributes to the learning and success of one another. Morale and respect are high among all team members, in particular for Rebecca’s unselfish leadership.

Sheri Levi, Vice President at Gallagher Bassett, is an experienced and very accomplished human resource professional. She loves the values of Grassroots Leadership as she is all about humility. Sheri appreciates learning from all team members, regardless of their age or position.

Sheri is people oriented. She realizes the importance of helping people succeed, listening to them to learn and being collaborative.

Enjoying what we do is important. Sheri and Rebecca have both cultivated a work environment where their team members are empowered professionally and thrive personally. This kind of culture makes going to work fun.

Believe me, this is not impossible. I spent many years at Johnson & Higgins. We worked very hard, served our clients very well, and we had a blast.

I firmly believe that highly effective leadership is not difficult. It’s realizing that connecting with and helping our people grow and succeed are as important as our results, and prioritizing our time to speak with and gain ideas from them.