“If the spirit of the student is in you, the lessons will be there.” Sir William Osler
Phylogeny is the evolutionary, developmental history of a species. I propose that leaders experience phylogeny: we evolve over time. Not all of the evolution is adaptive.
I was reminded of my own phylogeny recently by a column in the Washington Post. It was a discussion on how employees should present new ideas to their bosses.
It was the boss part that really convicted me. The author depicted a group presenting their creative idea and “as soon as you get to the second slide, the boss immediately interrupts to explain why your ideas will not work or what you should have done instead, letting you know that he or she doesn’t understand the idea and definitely doesn’t think it will work” (Joyce E. A. Russell, Vice Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.) Ouch.
As a young leader, I noticed that when my hospital’s CEO was being briefed she would glance at the number of slides in her copy of the handout a few minutes into the presentation and would seldom let the briefer get beyond the fourth or fifth slide without asking for the bottom line.
In an uneasy nod to my own leader phylogeny, I realized that a decade or two into my own leadership journey I had developed some of the same tendencies. I have developed the habit of interrupting during briefs, of saying “got-it,” of skipping ahead in the discussion, of using body language to communicate my disagreement (head swinging subtly “east-west” instead of “north-south” while they are speaking) of drumming my fingers on the table or arm of the chair, of pulling at the skin on my neck or my mustache (a risk inherent to having the “F” for “feeling” in my Myers Briggs temperament) of tapping impatiently with my ever-present yellow pencil.
The risk to the organization goes beyond the personal effect this behavior might have on my leadership effectiveness. These kinds of behaviors lead people to be less inclined to share their thoughts with me and with our leadership team. They stifle ideas that present opportunity for creativity, innovation and change in our organization that are not consistent with my already preconceived ideas of the direction I think we need to go.
The “we” is always more powerful than the “me.”
The necessary course correction starts with becoming aware and follows with an apology to my direct subordinates. It continues with accountability; making sure that a trusted agent on the team helps me to monitor and modify these behaviors.
Leader phylogeny is inevitable. But we will need to nudge it in the right direction now and then.
Chuck Callahan Henry V 4.3 – Lead from the Front https://henryv43.wordpress.com/
Henry V 4.3 
This post resonated with me. I believe the facilities in our organization that have provided innovative ideas that become best practices have leaders who support and foster the growth of ideas from within. Having worked on both sides of this equation, developing and expanding capabilities and trying to adapt practices developed elsewhere, I can say it is much more satisfying to do the former. In the informatics world, I’ve learned how important it is to have a committed functional sponsor, someone who will use the new system to do their core mission and who becomes involved in the implementation. Without that, applying a new system is far less likely to be successful.
As is often the case, there is a Dilbert cartoon for this.
-john scott
Thanks, Dr. Scott. It is a bit unsettling to consider what opportunities for innovation we might have missed by playing it safe over the years. American medicine requires that we be ready to abandon assumptions and look to the best practices you mention. Rene Laennec, the inventor of the stethoscope (someone who knew the challenges of innovation) said, “Do not fear to repeat what has already been said. Men need these things dinned into their ears many times. The first rumor makes them prick up their ears, the second registers and the third enters.” We don’t want to end up like Dilbert… chuck callahan
Thanks Chuck–very interesting. But don’t ever lose that yellow pencil!
I might add that we as leaders are also responsible for educating these fine folks on how to better present their ideas in the future. I tend to be long-winded in my presentations, but have learned from you and others how to refine this skill.
I am afraid Becket that it was the long-windedness I have passed on to many of you! I am beginning to tell people up front how long I have to hear what they have to say, and how much time I expect I will need for questions. So in a thirty minute brief for example, I will ask them to present for fifteen or twenty and then leave me and the rest of the team ten minutes or so for questions. My assistant is going to try to provide this info when the brief is put on the schedule. I am hoping that I will be less inclinded to interupt etc. I’ll let you know how it goes! …chuck callahan
It is interesting that only in time do we see some of our current flaws for what they really are (which we probably think as gifts in the present:). I can’t wait to be 20 years old and look at my current self and hopefully see that i have “evolved”.
On a side, wouldn’t “ontogeny” be a better word to use in the title? It seems we are talking about the developmental history of an individual as oppose to his/her species.
Great point about ontogeny! “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” many of us probably learned in school. Ontogeny is the individual development of an organism from embryo to adult, where phylogeny is the evolution of the species. So in embryology we are told the organism’s development is a demonstration of the species’ evolution. You are right, in many ways ontogeny would be a better title. But I also think that our job as we evolve as leaders is to be mindful that leadership and the leaders we are developing are evolving as well. “The first duty of leaders is to create more leaders” Air Force General Bill Creech said. We need to be focused on our own leader development, mindful that our development may be the most profound and significant thing we bring to the development of other leaders.