“Meg Greenfield, the late Post editorial page editor, counseled against writing in “High C” all the time. By this she meant that an editorialist or columnist who expressed equally noisy levels of indignation about everything would lack credibility when something truly outrageous came along that merited a well-crafted high-pitched scream. We now seem to be living in the Age of High C, a period when every fight is Armageddon, every foe is a monster, and every issue is either the key to national survival or the doorway to ruin.” — E.J. Dionne Jr., “To a Healthier Democracy,” Washington Post, 12/20/14
No doubt about it: society values the transformational leader, the One Who Gets Things Done and pronto. In the popular mind this leader is epitomized by General George Patton, Steve Jobs, Theodore Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher, people who lived with passionate intensity—they led in “high C.” Is this a good model? I think not and as 2014 draws to a close I want to encourage you to lead with the entire tonal scale, not just high C.
The U.S. and the world have certainly had a lot to fret about in 2014: Ukraine, Ebola, deflation, tragic accidents, alleged police brutality, political polarization, etc. Given the volatile environment, it is understandable that enterprise leaders confront high uncertainty in their spheres. In the face of this volatility, the standard response of leaders is to raise the pitch and noise level of their exhortations; in my salad days I worked for a shouter who eventually burned out. Some enterprises may warrant this. But as a running coach once told me, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Leading at high C is not sustainable indefinitely.
Nor does it promote high performance. Research reveals that transformational leadership is less about high C and more about reticence and determination. For instance, in his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote, “leadership is not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great….leaders display a workmanlike diligence, more plow horse than show horse.” (p. 30, 39)
Nor does high C promote wise and just decisions. Shortly after the publication of the Rolling Stone article about UVA, I received a volume of email and two direct phone calls from alums: someone (most of UVA’s leaders) must be fired right away to correct things. “Don’t we want to serve justice?” I replied. “Let’s get the facts first. We’ve commenced two formal investigations.” The writers and callers would not be mollified: heads must roll. Later, when Rolling Stone retracted the article because of factual inaccuracies, just one of the high C’ers contacted me, abashed at the new news. All universities need to bring “ferocious resolve” and “workmanlike diligence” to the problem of sexual abuse on campus. But let’s not succumb to “ready, fire, aim.”
Nor does high C necessarily promote trust. To lead with high C and then not have the case for urgency can sever the bonds between leader and followers. Infrequently, some leader will show up on my doorstep with hair on fire: “something must be done about _____ and I’m ready to lead it; will you back me?” On closer examination the facts don’t support the cause—or worse, the facts reveal that the proposed cause is self-serving to the leader. In such instances, one feels betrayed or manipulated or reminded of William Butler Yeats’ poem, The Second Coming, “the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Mind you, the best can be passionately intense too—but the difference is that they have the case for their cause.
Nor does high C promote attention. On an airplane recently, the flight attendant literally shouted the flight safety briefing over the sound system. I had to cover my ears; and I suspect that others did too. Later she explained that she did this to make people listen. I observed that she failed to command our attention, though she did succeed in annoying some of us. In another instance, I co-edited a journal with a professor at another school: every single email he sent to me carried the little “urgent” icon. His high C but mostly unimportant messaging wore out my attention to him.
My wish for readers of this blog in 2015 is a future of tonal modulation. May you as leaders bring low C’s, middle C’s, and (a few) high C’s as needed. The ability to modulate will grant you more attention, better performance, more sustainable effort, more trust, and wiser and more just decision-making. Easy does it.