It had already been a twelve-hour day when the text came across my Blackberry: the infamous Sev-1 (Severity One) alert. For our fulfillment center, it signified that part of our automation and\/or sortation systems were offline, putting customer experience at risk, as orders might not reach their intended destination in time. I headed to the warehouse floor to find my operations leaders and determine the next steps. That evening, Brooke was running the shift. \u00a0\u00a0She was a vocal leader, with quick responses that were usually concise and complete.\u00a0 An individual with dual master\u2019s degrees from MIT, she had excellent problem-solving skills and engineering chops. A superb asset in running operations, she was still a young leader within a highly demanding environment where we shipped out over 1.2M parcels weekly.\u00a0 When I approached, you could sense her anxiety levels were already heightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike, the sorter is offline, and we need to make adjustments immediately,\u201d she yelled at me as we observed the parcel backlog. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to wait for the maintenance team to fix things.\u00a0 We will blow customer experience.\u201d\u00a0 These customer metrics had been embedded into the site over time, raising the intensity a few levels.\u00a0 The tension was already high.\u00a0 The issue was whether we should move to a backup plan, which would be slower overall, or wait out our maintenance team for a fix with an unknown timeline on a sorter that had been temperamental for months but could provide a quicker recovery.\u00a0 It was the equipment that had a life of its own and was unreliable.\u00a0 Either solution had risks, but she wanted to move and move now.\u00a0 I was not confident that was the best option.<\/p>\n
The maintenance team scoured the equipment like ants to identify the root cause. I looked at Brooke and asked where we stood regarding progress on the night. Based on her recent production numbers, she noted that we were ahead of pace for the evening.\u00a0 I asked her how much time we had before she wanted to move to the backup plan (Plan B).\u00a0 \u201cTen minutes,\u201d she replied.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t want to wait any longer.\u201d\u00a0 You could hear the tension rising in her voice and the stress on her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you trust the maintenance team for a fix?\u201d I asked. \u201cHere\u2019s what we will do. I will take the pressure off you tonight, respond to any issues regarding customer experience, and tell our leadership team that it was my decision not to go to Plan B. That is on me. But we will give the maintenance team 20 minutes to solve the problem. You must be patient, which I know contradicts how you operate. You need to trust them.\u201d\u00a0 She stared back at me in disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, here\u2019s your part of the deal,\u201d I told her. \u201cIf the maintenance crew brings this back online within 20 minutes, and we work through the backlog of parcels in the next hour, you owe me a soda.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brooke looked at me as if I was crazy and didn\u2019t believe what she had just heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prefer root beer if it’s in the machine. If not, leave the 50 cents on my desk. I\u2019ll be back in about 10 minutes to check on progress. Thank you!\u201d\u00a0 I turned and walked away, looking for a quiet space to think about our exchange and what actions to take next.\u00a0 At that moment, I also realized I was completely committed to my team and that we wouldn\u2019t let the moment’s chaos rule the day.<\/p>\n
In his book, A Failure of Nerve<\/em>, Freidman states, \u201cThe climate of contemporary America has become so chronically anxious that our society has gone into an emotional regression that is toxic to well-defined leadership.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 I began to walk through my exchange with Brooke and our team in the fulfillment center and compare it against Friedman\u2019s characteristics of chronically anxious families.\u00a0 Friedman outlines five characteristics that lead to regressive actions and prevent growth: Reactivity, Herding, Blame Displacement, A Quick-Fix Mentality, and a Failure of Nerve in Leadership link them all together.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n My evening experience with Brooke captured characteristics that Friedman cites.\u00a0 She expressed intense reactions to the situation and had difficulty self-regulating.\u00a0 While not specific to Brooke, operations team members were quick to blame the vendor for the poor operational efficiency of the equipment.\u00a0 There was a collective unwillingness to avoid leaning into mechanical challenges and claim ownership of the sorter as if it exhibited its unique personality.\u00a0 With a lower threshold for pain, Brooke was looking for more of a quick fix and wanted to solve for the moment when it would be less beneficial as the night progressed.<\/p>\n As I revisited the events of that evening I related to Friedman\u2019s explanation of differentiation, \u00a0\u201cDifferentiation is the lifelong process of striving to keep one\u2019s being in balance through the reciprocal external and internal processes of self-definition and self-regulation.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 I exhibited the characteristics to stand in the moment and provide a calm presence and voice during anxiety and chaos.\u00a0 I was not going to succumb to the emotions of the system or call blame on others.\u00a0 We own the moment and control how we navigate through the process.\u00a0 Depending on the level of severity, it can be extremely challenging to stay above the fray.<\/p>\n As a newer operational leader in a dynamic environment, Brooke also exhibited escalating anxiety due to the quantity and speed of change.[4]<\/a> She was not able to absorb the rapid changes and lower the level of collective anxiety. I was responsible for speaking with her then and helping to mitigate those concerns. After concluding my brief \u201calone time,\u201d I circled back to the epicenter of the evening\u2019s challenge. At about 17 minutes, our maintenance team gave me a thumbs-up and restarted the sorter.\u00a0 We observed it running for five minutes without issue and then commenced production.\u00a0 Crisis averted.<\/p>\n Friedman\u2019s distinction between the \u201cNew World\u201d and \u201cOld World\u201d orientations toward leadership is intriguing and highlights the following:<\/p>\n Those views resonated with me as I reflected on my years in different leadership roles.\u00a0 Over time, my focus has slowly shifted from leading through others, delegating, and setting goals or operational targets to coming alongside and leading with others.\u00a0 The latter method uses a mutually agreed-upon vision and a collaborative approach for experimentation and shared decision-making.\u00a0 I have discovered that this shift in my process has created much more value for my team members and myself.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Edwin Friedman, A Failure of Nerve \u2013 Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>. (New York, NY: Church Publishing, Inc. 2007). 53.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Freidman, 54.<\/p>\n\n