Leadership in the Crucible of Work: Discovering the Interior Life of an Authentic Leader

This book suggests a demanding career can be like a kind of crucible, or melting pot, where heat, pressure and the stress of responsibility threaten to warp us. To resist, we must constantly build ourselves up from the inside, strengthen our character, and put in place tools and techniques that protect us. If we do this, the pressure of the crucible won't diminish us – it'll transform us into better leaders.

So who's this book for? "Leadership in the Crucible of Work" is aimed at people in leadership roles across all sectors and industries. But you don't have to be right at the top to get value from this book. Project managers, line managers, and team leaders can face similar pressures to those higher up the career ladder, and they can be less well-equipped to deal with them. Wherever you are in the pecking order, this book will cause you to reflect with probing questions, and give you some tools to help you succeed.

We say some tools because it's also important to be clear about what this book isn't. "Leadership in the Crucible of Work" isn't a manual or a How To book. You won't find lists of actions or a ten-point plan. Instead, it's a collection of thoughtful essays about character, attitude, and personal development that discuss concepts you don't often see in management books, such as "despair," "letting go," and "forgiveness."

Rather unusually for a business book, the author, Sandy Shugart, also includes poems that relate to the book's themes, written by him and other poets. This won't be to everyone's taste, and nor will the book's language or tone. Shugart uses lots of metaphors and analogies, the crucible being just one, and his final chapter is on "confronting evil" and "doing good" at work.

Shugart accepts that some readers will object to his language, but he defends the way he writes, and we like that he's up-front about this. We also think the poems, while unusual, fit well with his aim of writing a thought-provoking, reflective book.

Besides being a poet, Shugart is president of the Florida-based Valencia College, which won the first Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence in 2011. He's been teaching in schools and universities for several decades and has held a number of senior positions, including a visiting scholar's chair at Oxford University. He's also a singer and songwriter.

So keep listening to hear what to do when your organization starts to plateau, how to avoid identifying too much with your company's success, and how to weather major storms.

Shugart has a background in chemistry, so it's fitting he should choose the metaphor of the crucible to describe a high-pressured working environment. Both are places of heat, pressure, reactivity, and corrosive by-products. On a daily basis, leaders are forced to make snap decisions about large sums of money or people's lives. They have to deal with a range of variables out of their control, stare the possibility of public failure in the face, and wield considerable power. The heat, the pressure, the reactivity, and the potential for corruption are all there.

Shugart explores two other metaphors relating to the crucible. Years ago, the crucible was used to turn copper into bronze, a harder, more useful metal. And in the Middle Ages, alchemists believed lead could be turned into gold if heated with a small piece of the philosopher's stone. So, what if the pressure of work could help form a leader's character or even transform it into something stronger, more useful, and more valuable? This is Shugart's contention, but only if the leader does what he calls "inner work."

Inner work describes the internal conversations all leaders must have to maintain their integrity in a pressured environment. Shugart explores these conversations throughout the book, through paired essays that look at two related but contrary attitudes or behaviors. Examples of these are Listening and Not Listening; Getting a Grip and Letting Go; Failure and Forgiveness; and Despair and Hope.

So let's take a closer look at some of these essays, starting with Getting a Grip.

Shugart says many leaders reach a point when they start to plateau. This often happens after short periods of intense activity and great achievement. Rest is essential, and peaks and troughs are part of the natural business cycle, but too many leaders get lost on the plateau. They lose vision and purpose, and settle for maintenance. Their organizations lose momentum and slide into mediocrity. So how can leaders get the momentum back?

Shugart says great work often happens toward the beginning of a leader's tenure, which may coincide with a state of crisis. New leaders are brought in to turn around failing organizations, to rebrand companies, to shake up teams, to give new direction. They are energized, ambitious, determined, and keen to make a name for themselves.

So the best way leaders can breathe new life into their organizations is to act like a beginner at the start of an assignment – someone who sees everything with fresh eyes and is open to all possibilities. And if we can harness a sense of emergency or crisis, this'll give extra momentum.

Shugart suggests we ask ourselves what we'd do if we were brand new to our organization today. How would we diagnose its problems? In what direction would we want to head? He uses the analogy of being an artist, finishing one painting and starting a new piece of work on a blank canvas.

We like the author's tips here, and see how they could help leaders find fresh impetus. But it would be useful to have more practical suggestions on how to create this feeling of being a beginner faced with a crisis. Maybe we need a brainstorming session with our team, an away day in a different environment, or some creative role-play to generate a sense of emergency.

Shugart is clear that this isn't intended to be a practical book. But some readers may feel he's missed something out, and would welcome more guidance on how to shake off the old ways of doing things.

The second half of this chapter – Letting Go – discusses the problems of a domineering leader who micromanages employees. It talks about the benefits of collaboration and why it's important for leaders to show vulnerability. We don't have time to discuss this essay in detail, but look out for some good tips on holding inclusive conversations.

Let's now look at the chapter on Being Detached versus Being Connected.

It's important for leaders to be deeply committed to their organization's mission. But those who over identify with their work, their performance, or their company's success aren't good for business. That kind of attitude creates a controlling environment, where employees shy away from criticizing their leaders, scared that they'll take the criticism personally.

Instead, leaders should practice engaged detachment, so they're able to hear criticism, digest it, act on it, but not let it get to them. Imagine how dysfunctional an organization might get if employees couldn't give feedback. Leaders who are too attached to their organizations may also struggle to change direction or give up on projects that aren't working, because they're too proud to admit they made a mistake.

Shugart suggests leaders check in with themselves regularly to gage how attached they are to their work or their organization's results. One sign of over identification is when criticism really hurts. If this happens, ask yourself what your reaction tells you about your level of engagement with your work. Was the criticism accurate or unfounded? Why did it hurt so much? And does your anger suggest others may be afraid to give you feedback?

Finally, the author suggests leaders see their current job as one of many projects they'll do over the course of their lives. This helps lower the stakes. It's also useful when the time comes to move on. It helps us see when our work is done, and recognize that the company may fare better under another leader with different skills.

We can probably all recall examples of leaders who stayed when they should have handed the baton over to someone else, wrongly believing the race would be lost without them.

We think Shugart's theories on "being detached" will prompt readers to consider whether they over identify with their role or their organization's performance, and whether this attitude may be stifling dissent or jeopardizing success.

The second essay in this chapter – Being Connected – explores a healthier model of leadership, around the concepts of persistence, purpose, passion, and personal engagement. We particularly like the author's discussion of passion. Passion is often seen as enthusiasm or excitement for a job or task. But Shugart suggests we go back to the Latin root of the word, which is passire, meaning to suffer. Leadership may bring certain benefits – good salaries, stylish offices, and so forth – but serious leaders need to ask themselves what they're willing to suffer or make sacrifices for.

Let's now look at the chapter on Despair and Hope, focusing on the former.

All leaders will have to navigate storms at some point – we're talking major crises like global economic recessions or natural disasters. These are periods of sustained pressure that require everyone to dig deep. But there are ways to prepare for the worst and ensure stability and survival. Shugart offers leaders four principles that are key to an organization's resilience.

The first is "community." People pull together in a crisis, but organizations can't begin laying the foundations of a community when disaster strikes. If leaders have already taken the time to nurture a sense of belonging and to build a community of team players who feel valued, their institutions have a better chance of survival.

There are many ways to build this sense of community – including through traditions, rituals and symbols. Shugart doesn't offer any further tips, but he does advise executives against sending bad signals, like taking their bonuses while cutting staff.

The second principle is "knowledge is power." At times of crisis, transparency is key. It may be tempting for leaders to keep information under wraps, particularly when the way forward is unclear. But this leads to speculation and creates a sense of ‘them' and ‘us,' which damages trust. Shugart says, share everything you know, even if it's very little. Knowing what's going on gives people the opportunity to do what they can to improve the situation. Without that, they can feel helpless.

Thirdly, lead from principles. Explain to everyone what principles and values will guide you as you navigate the storm. These principles could be honesty, integrity, fairness, or a commitment to the common good – whatever they are, be open about them. Like sharing information, this inspires trust.

Finally, remember organizations can behave like organisms. Sometimes they go into fight or flight mode, are struck down by paralysis, or engage in frantic activity as a body. It's the leader's job to maintain order, and the best way to do this is to make sure the organization's machinery continues to work as it should – that all the standard processes and procedures are in place and being followed.

We think Shugart makes some really useful points here that'll prompt leaders to reflect on how resilient their organizations are, and perhaps take steps to build stronger communities.

In the contrasting essay, Hope, Shugart says it's important to believe in a better future. He uses Continental Airlines as an example of how organizations can transform themselves with the right people and the right attitude.

We haven't got time to look closely at this chapter, but we like its upbeat note. Purposeful leadership is available to all of us, Shugart says, if we do the inner work, reflect on our behavior constantly, and act in a disciplined, intentional way.

As you heard earlier, "Leadership in the Crucible of Work" isn't your average leadership book. If you're looking for a clear roadmap or a 10-step plan to becoming a better leader or manager, you'll be disappointed. But if you're comfortable with a more reflective book, we think you'll get a lot from it.

Shugart shows us how to harness the heat and pressure of work to become stronger leaders, rather than depleted ones. And he challenges us to stay true to ourselves and raise our game as leaders and managers through constant self-examination. We think this is valuable, important work, and a potential antidote to all the leadership scandals we read about.

"Leadership in the Crucible of Work" by Sandy Shugart, PhD. is published by Florida Hospital Publishing.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.