Leadership Lessons from Booker T Washington - Engagement

I have never taken the opportunity to read Booker T Washington’s book, Up From Slavery, so I decided to rectify that situation and read it recently. I have been very impressed, and I can see why it has been a classic. I wish I had taken the opportunity to read it years ago.

  I won’t go into detail about the book (I’ll let others do that), but I do want to comment on some specific principles that stand out on various topics of leadership. While he led the building of the Tuskegee Institute over the various years, Mr. Washington understood how to get everyone – faculty and students - engaged in the institute. Everyone became part of the building up of the institute, and not just from a figurative standpoint, but from a literal one as well. Students and faculty (including Mr. Washington himself) were involved in the design and construction of the facilities, and even made their own beds and furniture. There were a few reasons to do this. Mr. Washington felt the students needed the basic industrial skills, but more importantly, he understood that by participating in the development, it would become theirs and not just “his” institution. They become invested in the organization. He saw firsthand how this concept affects organizations. He made the following observation:

Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.  When I have read of labour troubles between employers and employees, I have often thought that many strikes and similar disturbances might be avoided if the employers would cultivate the habit of getting nearer to their employees, of consulting and advising with them, and letting them feel that the interests of the two are the same.

In Boy Scouting, we try to cultivate a similar principle. It’s called the “youth-led” troop. The goal is to support the Scouts (or Venturers – a Scouting group for older youth) in planning and implementing their own program. For Scouting, the result is far greater youth development. They have greater interest and see the reason for the various activities. It substantially minimizes the behavior issues that otherwise might arise. With Boy Scouting, the greatest indicator of engagement is behavior.  When the youth members aren’t engaged in the program, they will either get into trouble (for younger members) or stop showing up (for older members). In either case, they demonstrate their disengagement very directly.
  In the workforce, a lack of engagement shows up in poor work, lack of initiative, and high employee turnover.  A quick internet search will find a huge list of sites with signs of employee disengagement, but a much smaller list of sites addressing it. I have read a number of articles through the years, and they offer suggestions such as increasing employee recognition, doing surveys, more flex time, or ultimately getting rid of disengaged employees or getting rid of their managers.
  My experience is that Mr. Washington identified a key to the solution. Responsibility and trust. Let’s face it, a company hires employees for their skills, why not use them? When employees really understand the mission (a subject for another time) and have a chance to help plan how to meet it, they “own” the solution. What greater trust can you show an employee than letting them help determine their own fate? I had the opportunity to experience that in a company that I worked for. The Board identified the goals – or target they wanted to hit. The management team then planned how to accomplish those goals. Each manager then went to their teams with their responsibilities and turned it over to them to determine how to accomplish it. It went down the line until everyone knew the mission and their part in it. This decomposition process helps an organization plan to accomplish it’s goals, but more importantly, it provides a process to give each employee a stake in the results. They become part owners of the solution. Personally, I’d rather have that than a half-hearted congratulations so we can fill the checklist of “engagement techniques.”