Halloween has just passed for another year. Because I see everything through the lens of leadership, I reflected on Halloween and leadership.
Halloween is the time of year when people culminate and even celebrate their year-round love of zombies. Some people feed themselves full of fear. And some people like to put fear into others. Games, movies, video games, costumes, re-enacting – people cannot get enough of the living dead.
These living dead are decaying outer shells that contain an altered living person inside. They continue existing by feeding off the flesh of living humans. Moment by moment they wander with a dragging gait to slowly chase and over power their next victim. The best part is when the victim falls down and cannot seem to get up before the zombie reaches them from several yards away. Traveling at the speed of a slug, they manage to reach and eat their victim.
Zombie leaders look a little different. They are not as easy to spot. On the outside they look alive, but on the inside they are dying and decaying. They feed off the fears of their staff and employees. These zombie leaders chase after the life of others around them. Eating the flesh and life of those who follow, the appetite of these zombie leaders is never satisfied. They are always seeking the next thing that will satisfy their hunger for power or profit. People are only a next meal toward their own success.
Fear
Fear drives zombie leaders. While these leaders may instill fear in others who cannot seem to run away, these leaders are actually dying inside. In fact, the fear they instill in others, is the fear that is still in them. Fear of failure and the fear of not good enough.
Leadership comes with fears. Brent Gleeson, a former Navy SEAL, shared his 5 main fears of leadership and how he overcame them.
Fear —> Outcome
1. Criticism —> Humility
2. Failure —> Own It and Correct It
3. Making Decisions —> Make the Best You Can/Adjust
4. Speaking —> Do It More
5. Responsibility —> Work As a Team
Grunts and groans and even silence are signs of leaders who are dying inside. They wander trying to find the next thing to give them life and to satisfy their own appetite of success. Like zombies, their appetite is never satisfied. They devour anyone who might interfere with their self-satisfaction. They do not communicate with their staff and employees. Their people are fearful and dying, but that just makes the leader’s feast easier to devour.Grunts, Groans, and Silence
Zombie Prevention
So, how can we as leaders prevent from becoming a zombie leader? There is no trick. Just treat our people right. Treat them with respect. Here are three things we can do to prevent being infected by this leadership zombie disease.
- Remove the fears of the people. This is accomplished by communication that is frequent, honest, and respectful. Listen to them. Understand them. Know what they value.
- Embrace your people, do not chase your people. Pull them in, do not push them out. Value people.
- Speak life into them. Give life rather than take life. Feed your people, do not feed on your people. Speak words of encouragement, not grunts of discontent.
So, instead of perpetuating the fears of a zombie apocalypse in our own leadership, let us continue a leadership apocalypse by continually feeding our own leadership and feeding the leadership of our leaders.
