The Canary in Leadership’s No Man’s Land

Last week I learned I was wrong about something I was absolutely, bet-you-$100-sure about.  In my 40 years of playing tennis, I was sure “No Man’s Land” on the tennis court was located just inside the baseline and extended through about half of the service box.

It’s called “No Man’s Land” because if a player stands in that area they are vulnerable to being on the defensive and losing a point because the opponent will have an opportunity to hit a ball at his or her feet. Trust me … it’s almost impossible to hit a good return if the ball is at your feet.

Here’s what I learned from my tennis coach, Jon.  The location of “No Man’s Land” depends on what’s happening on the court.  It is not a static, physical location. It is a dynamic, situational location.

Tennis is a series of dynamic situations.  Players move side-to-side, up-and-back to assume either a defensive or offensive position.  How a player moves and where they stand is connected to their skills and experience. Beginners tend to stand in one place (aka, No Man’s Land) and move “late” to the ball. More experienced players are constantly anticipating and moving to where the ball is going to be before it gets there. Inexperienced players miss hit a ball with back spin because they do not know how spin affects the ball’s bounce.   Experienced players read the opponent’s racket movement, aren’t surprised by what’s coming, and pro-actively adjust their response.

The dynamic nature of the game constantly shifts the location of “No Man’s Land”.  Experienced players moves to avoid it, inexperienced players often claim it and the disadvantage that comes with it.

Leadership depends

The situational leadership theory was developed by Paul Hersey. The fundamental underpinning of the   theory is that there is no single “best” style of leadership. The most successful leaders are those who adapt their leadership style to the maturity and capacity of the individual or group they are leading and to the outcomes that need to be accomplished.

The Tuckman model of team development is one way for a leader to assess a team’s “maturity and capacity” to effectively respond to their situation. An accurate assessment lets the leader provide the team what it needs to produce the desired outcomes and move to the next level of performance.

As with any model, what looks simple in theory takes a multitude of effort in practice. Likewise, as with any staged process, what looks like a simple progression in actuality is more of a fuzzy, grey line between stages.

No Man’s Land for leaders

Effective leaders are always expanding their own self-awareness. As a leader, assessing your maturity and capacity is crucial. If you avoid conflict and can’t facilitate others in resolving their conflicts, you may slow down or even halt your team’s development. Staying in the storming stage too long burns people out. If you know you aren’t effective (yet) at dealing with conflict, bring in someone who is and develop your capacity along with the team.

If you miss-identify the stage your team is in, you may not provide them with the developmental tools they need to progress.  For instance, in the storming stage, group members need to move from a testing and proving mentality that can pit individual against individual to a problem-solving mentality that focuses on resolving issues and not people’s personalities.

The canary

Communication skills, listening and speaking, are fundamental.  The polite listening in the forming stage may shift in the storming stage as the fear of failure surfaces and threatens identities and relationships.  In response, some members may turn silent, while others may become more dominate, even aggressive.

Think of a team’s communication skills as the canary in the team’s coal mine. (Canaries used to be used by early coal miners as oxygen detection systems. If the canary died, the miners knew to exit or be next.) If the communication skills do not mature, the team will stop developing.  The team’s canary dies from breathing toxic vapors given off by the lack of communication.

Effective leaders are oriented to what’s happening “on the court” with the team. They recognize that one size of leadership does not fit all – not all teams, not all situations – and that if they are not adapting and moving toward where the ball will be, they will put everyone in No Man’s Land where they are vulnerable and on the defensive.