On Leadership and Giving Orders
At some point in our lives, we've had to give an order to someone, whether to achieve a work objective, organize an informal meeting, or participate in a sport. While it may seem simple and routine, it's more complex than it appears.
Taking a passage from the book I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, we encounter a situation on a distant planet where a needed material is found in a dangerous zone, even for robots, and a person gives an ambiguous order to a robot to go collect the material.
Due to the composition of the 3 Laws of Robotics, the ambiguity of the command conflicts with laws # 2 and # 3, reaching a point where law # 3 (self-preservation) takes precedence, and the robot prioritizes its survival over completing the order. Upon reaching a safe area, law #2 (obedience) once again takes precedence, and the cycle begins.
As presented in the book with robots, sometimes our leadership style and the way we give orders, combined with the context, can lead to ambiguities and, consequently, errors in execution and results.
Leadership Styles
There are different leadership styles, each with its pros and cons. According to Toastmasters, some of the styles include:
- Bureaucratic - This leader enforces strict rules and discipline, effective for quick decisions but may frustrate experts.
- Authoritarian - This leader provides clear and firm instructions, inspires enthusiasm, and is useful for directional shifts.
- Instructor - This leader develops skills for the future and is effective in close, growth-oriented relationships.
For more information, you can visit the Toastmasters website.
Giving Orders as Part of Leadership
When we’re in a leadership position, we encounter diverse situations, and adding the human factor means that no single leadership style will work all the time. Knowing our leadership style and being aware of others helps us achieve better results through our own adaptation. In the book passage I shared at the beginning, an Authoritarian leadership style would have been the most effective.
In my work, the leadership style I most commonly use is Instructor, aiming to integrate team members and motivate them to grow and make their own decisions. However, this style isn’t the only one I use, as I always try to adapt to the situation at hand. In situations with little margin for error, I can be Authoritarian.
Adapting to Improve
Sometimes, leadership style can shift from one moment to the next, whether we're addressing groups or if the result we're getting isn’t what we expected. For example, when collaborating with a team to develop a product, we might start with a coaching style, but if the team doesn’t respond adequately and starts engaging in unproductive or unfocused activities, we may switch to a more Authoritarian style to achieve the desired result.
A common example is parents sending their kids to bed. Initially, children are told to go to bed, say, at 9:00 PM, with an explanation that they need to rest to play again tomorrow. A little later, perhaps around 10:00 PM, if the children haven’t fallen asleep, parents may adopt a more Bureaucratic style, decisively insisting they go to bed. Later still, around 11:00 PM, if the children still aren’t asleep, parents switch to an Authoritarian style and firmly order them to sleep.
Conclusion
Knowing our leadership styles and understanding how and when to use them helps us become better leaders, adapting to what each moment requires. Have you noticed how your leadership style changes in different situations? Maybe it's a good time to try something new and see what results you can achieve.
A robot must obey the orders given to it by humans.
A robot must protect its own existence.
Three Laws of Robotics, Isaac Asimov
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