VIM Executive Coaching is proud to share the following piece of trivia: It was in 1787 that Jacques Charles, a physicist, discovered the relationship between the pressure, temperature and volume of gasses. No shrinking violet, he named his breakthrough discovery Charles’ Law.
In a sense, his discovery led to the understanding of the mechanics of steam engines and boilers. You might say, Monsieur Charles was an expert in hot air.
These facts, perhaps a bit sarcastically, lead us to better understand some unpleasant aspects of executive leadership.
What Charles Found, What We Find
It is common sense to all of us now, but Charles understood that in a closed system, as temperature rises, pressure rises. The pressure can be used to power a locomotive or automobile, heat a home or operate a turbine, but if there is no place for the gas or steam to escape, pressure builds and voila! we have a big problem.
While Charles was a pressure and gas expert, no doubt he also understood human nature. There is no historical record of who might have coined the phrase, “That’s nothing but a lot of hot air,” we might as well give credit to Monsieur Charles who undoubtedly encountered plenty of hot air and pontification when he first presented his discovery to a scientific academy. Indeed, he was probably the one who exploded when a pompous panel of acclaimed scientists dissed his theory.
“Why can’t you see the obvious?” he might have explained, as the scientific academy leadership arrogantly reacted to his findings, and closed down further discussion.
Monsieur Charles might have made a great executive leadership coach.
What we find
Sadly, there are times when we encounter executive leaders who have locked themselves in closed systems. They are intractable in their positions, inflexible to change and adamant that there is no other way except their way. They sit in those closed systems of their own creation until unpleasant outcomes occur. It may not be “an explosion” as the heat of pressures rise, but a slow attrition; it may not be openly contentious but a deliberate erosion of motivation or an increase in silo thinking between departments or breakdowns in attitude and communication at all levels.
In such “closed managerial systems,” where the pressures build, we may see several negative outcomes up to, and including terminations, resignations and ugly workplace cultures.
The need for some workplaces to address issues of intolerance and abuse is a direct result of close-minded, closed off systems and narrow-minded executive leadership that insisted on only one path and only one way to run companies.
As even the earliest of engineers who worked with gasses, volume and pressure realized, safety valves and regulation needed to be in place. In an executive leadership sense, the safety valve is mindfulness, which allows a greater sense of empathy, communication, listening skills and certainly, authenticity.
The mindful executive is willing to listen, to see other ways of viewing problems and to allow that executive leaders who see the world through authenticity and compassion are ultimately more effective.
As for pressure, volume, Charles’ Law and all that jazz, we know that leadership burdens only dissipate when there is an intention to be aware of the needs of others, not just to self. To that end, mindfulness is an intentional aspect of leadership and extends every facet of the organization. The best reactions to work place pressures are not explosions, but mindful responses to problems.
