Leading Across the Fault Lines

Earthquakes are seismic events with tremendous power. Movement in the Earth’s different plates, the foundations beneath each continental land mass, causes earthquakes. The area where one plate encounters another plate is called a fault line.

When geologists talk about earthquakes and fault lines they use terms like rigidity, friction, stress, shearing, and strain. An earthquake occurs when the strain of pent-up energy is unleashed in an instant.

Diverse people encountering one another in organizations are much like the Earth’s plates: they have deep foundations and immense potential energy. When they interact with one another there can be rigidity, friction, stress, shearing, and strain. Sometimes, especially when leadership is lacking and tensions build up, an earthquake can occur. It can leave tremendous personal and organization devastation in its path.

One way to reduce tensions across fault lines in organizations is to cultivate relationships between individuals from different groups within the organization. In effect, the fault line is redrawn, the boundary reframed, and the pressure is reduced. Promoting a shared identity that binds people together is an effective way to contend with a fault line. If diverse people can focus on their personal and organizational commonalities rather than their differences, fault lines within can become less destructive.

One leader who was able to diffuse fault lines was Mohandas Gandhi. The South Asian homeland of Gandhi is one of the most diverse countries in the world. The seventh largest country by land mass, India is the second most populous country in the world with over 1.2 billion people. More than 400 languages are spoken in India and people—Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Sikhs—practice many different religions. In fact, when Gandhi was leading the people toward independence, there was no single nation, but instead numerous small states and principalities each ruled by the British Indian Empire. Out of this diversity and disparity, Gandhi sought to create a unified nation—India.

Gandhi founded India through a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience. But he also appealed to Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs to set aside their sharp religious differences. Furthermore, he emphasized India above all else and shunned petty political rivalries. As a transformational leader, Gandhi worked to change the hearts and minds of his followers, so that the nation of India could be born.

Leaders in other contexts can employ many of the same methods to reduce tensions around personal and organizational fault lines. Ernst and Yip suggest that boundary suspending, boundary reframing, boundary nesting, and boundary weaving are all techniques that leaders can draw on to lower tensions and reduce the effects of fault lines.

Why not try practicing some of these techniques in your own context? Think of a new identity, cast a larger vision, consult a rival, reframe the question, or remove a stereotype. You have little to lose and a whole lot to gain.

Diversity and Leadership

In some circles the term diversity has a negative connotation, in part because of accusations of unfair advantage given to a group of individuals. Gareth Morgan, writing about organizational theory, recast diversity in a positive light. He noted that a “requisite variety” is necessary for organizational survival. Connerly and Pedersen have observed that we live in an increasingly diverse environment. Companies not only have global locations, they have domestic locations with multinational workers. A recent Washington Post news story illustrated how Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the wealthy Washington, DC suburbs, now has a majority minority population. Diversity is a fact of life.

Dealing with diversity is a challenge that will increasingly confront executives as they lead in various contexts. Connerly and Pederson suggested that awareness, knowledge, and skills are all necessary for leaders to successfully navigate the challenges of diversity. Many leaders, certainly, have done so.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26^th President of the United States, was one such leader. The son of a wealthy New York City businessman, Theodore Roosevelt was exposed to more than the high society of Victorian New York. He traveled, with his family, on two world tours. An avid nature lover, he explored the wilderness of New England and the American West, especially the Dakota Territory, where he had a cattle ranch. He learned and spoke foreign languages, including French and German, in addition to his native English. He studied at Harvard and Columbia. Upon graduating from Harvard, Roosevelt, already a published naturalist researched and wrote a naval history of the War of 1812, the first of over 30 books.

Roosevelt participated in local, state and national political office, serving as New York State Assemblyman, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, New York City Police Commissioner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy, New York Governor, and Vice-President and President of the United States. At the outbreak of war with Spain, Roosevelt led a cavalry regiment know as the Rough Riders in a famous charge up San Juan Hill. As President, Roosevelt brokered an armistice between Russia and Japan and received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Roosevelt was comfortable in almost any environment: in high society of New York, on the plains of the Dakota Badlands, in the lecture halls of Harvard, in the meeting halls of New York City, in the backwoods of New England, in the capitals of Europe, or the hills of tropical Cuba. In whatever environment he found himself, Theodore Roosevelt had the capacity to adapt and thrive.

So how can you develop that same capacity? Cultivate your own natural curiosity. Read various subjects. Travel to different places, domestic or international. Learn a foreign language. Make friends of those with different cultural or national background. Share coffee with the seniors at McDonalds. Participate in civic activities. In a word, engage the diversity around you. One day you might just need the skills you develop to lead in a position of influence. That’s what Theodore Roosevelt did, and so can you.