The unappreciated art of leading from Behind

In a team-based environment it is often the best Choice

You have seen it before. You have probably done it. But you may not have recognized it as a form of leadership, or even realized that you had done it.

The action of leading from behind has a bit of a nebulous character, yet it is a real and powerful tool that can often make or break a project or organizational mission.

Probably the most overt and cliched manifestation of this skill of leading from a non-traditional leadership role is that of the surgical nurse assisting the surgeon. The act of preparing the surgical suite and tools along with anticipation of the surgeon’s needs and actions all driven by an ability to anticipate expected positive and negative outcomes is an oft overlooked form of leadership.

The key to the act lies in the person in the non-defined leadership role to both anticipate and adapt to changing situations.

Yes, the surgical assistant can be entirely reactive and respond only to direction from the surgeon. That is a form of active followership.

Leading from behind takes the concept one step further into the proactive and anticipatory arena rather than simply reactive. When the person in the subordinate role undertakes the decision to provide support to someone in a defined leadership position in a proactive manner, they have stepped into a very powerful and important, yet under-appreciated leadership role.

This arena lies just between active followership on one end and biased manipulation on the other.

It is certainly possible for a person to have influence on a leader in a unscrupulous fashion that undermines the organizational mission or the leader personally. We aren’t talking about that, rather an action or series of actions that guides or assists the person in a leadership role into a positive accomplishment.

It doesn’t snow very often where I live in the Pacific Northwest, maybe once a year. But as I watch the snow fall outside it brings to mind Olaf the snowman in the wildly popular “Frozen” Disney movies.

Olaf is an animated snowman, conjured from Disney magic that is a sidekick and comedic interlude to the plot in both movies. To fill this purpose Olaf is an active follower in the quest to save the day in each film.

Olaf isn’t particularly bright, nor does he embody any special skills that would make him a good choice for pursuing a quest. His role seems to be forever cast as an assistant. His primary attribute is that he is loyal and supportive to the protagonists and seemingly we can’t expect much more from him. And yet, in each film, he provides an item of unsuspected wisdom that helps favorably turn the tide towards success.

I bring up Olaf to emphasize a couple of points about leading from behind.

One — It does not need to be constant or a series of successive acts in order to be effective. In Olaf’s case he offers something that he knows from his limited experience base when it happens to be perfectly poignant for the situation.

For the bulk of the adventure he is simply along for the ride, but that does not make him less valuable to the cause. Rather, when called upon, he delivers his best version of input and it creates immense value for the person in the leadership role.

Two — Leading from behind isn’t necessarily an action only undertaken by “traditional” leaders. Often leading from behind is characterized by someone in a leadership role allowing a subordinate to take center stage on a project and supporting their efforts. This is certainly one form of leadership from behind, but so are the actions of a subordinate when they intentionally help the leader set a course or accomplish a goal.

One does not need to have a history of leading to step up and take a leadership role when the circumstances dictate.

I have used this leadership style of leading from behind in both the subordinate and designated leader role.

Prior to the fire service I worked for several years as a commercial electrician apprentice. It is in this role that I honed my skill in leading from behind. As an apprentice, I found that over time I could anticipate the needs of the journeyman electricians I worked with.

How I chose to act with respect to those anticipated needs could significantly affect the end result of our work. I could very easily set the journeyman electrician up for success or failure through my actions.

While wiring a commercial building for electricity may not have as critical consequence as a successful surgery, I found that my willingness and ability to use the skills I possess can dramatically affect the situational outcome, regardless of my formal role.

Many years later I was able to use these exact same skills as a fire chief. In a defined leadership role, I frequently enabled my subordinates to lead projects or teams and provided support and encouragement to enable them to succeed.

In fact, I had so much success with this style of leading while in subordinate roles, that it was often my default approach when I occupied defined leadership positions. There is nothing I like more than seeing a subordinate achieve success. Plus, when this happens it offers the additional benefit of being able to publicly praise that success.

Positive feedback from leadership reinforces positive behavior, helps build cohesive teams, and builds overall organizational strength and chemistry.

Wherever you happen to be in an organizational hierarchy you can use the skill of leading from behind to create value for your team, your bosses, your subordinates and yourself.

If you are a subordinate, look for ways that you can proactively impact the performance of your boss or team. Perhaps getting reports submitted a few days early can allow your boss more time to digest information before having to summarize them for the corporate board. Or maybe it is providing input from your own particular set of personal skills that will enable the team to perform better. It is situational, but if you look, you can find ways to provide additional value that can enhance your team effort.

If you are a boss, look for ways to enable your subordinates and create paths for success. You will find that by empowering subordinates you not only get the job done but create a situation where you enhance important positive interpersonal relationships in the workplace.

There are a host of leadership styles to choose from. Each situation can call for varied styles, and an effective leader knows how to pick the right style for the appropriate situation. That said, one of the most flexible and effective ways to lead can be a lead from behind approach.

If it works for Disney and Olaf, it just may work for you as well.

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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. Now moving forward to writing and consulting. For more articles like this, join the mail list.