What General Patton and Liquid Soap can teach us about Leadership

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. - George S. Patton


I have always appreciated this quote. It falls into line with part of my thoughts on leadership. In my previous roles as a manager or supervisor this was something I often considered when determining when to involve myself and when to let go. The issue is sometimes leadership quotes, while seemingly good most of the time are not always right. It is in knowing how to assess a situation and determine the right course of action that often makes the difference in successful leadership and just being in charge.

I learned early on as a parent and a leader in my home that sometimes the best ideas on leadership need to be evaluated when dealing with children. If you truly want to know what kind of leadership style you possess go and work with children for a few days. It is one of the surest ways to know if you are truly a leader or just someone who thinks they are in charge.

I have often thought of the quote of above when remembering a time when I asked my 3 oldest children to clean their bathroom. They were roughly at the ages of four, seven, and ten.  I explained I wanted the bathroom straightened up and then told the older two to use a cleaning product to wipe down the surfaces and they needed to mop the floor. I told them I would be back up to check in about 45 minutes. Twenty minutes into their assignment I heard several loud noises that sounded like someone falling. I yelled upstairs, "Is everyone ok?" To which they responded, "Yes!" Another ten minutes went by and I continued to hear a thud ever so often. I decided to go and check and see what was happening. Upon opening the bathroom door, I  discovered they were cleaning the bathroom floor by putting liquid soap on it and using the floor as a skating rink. They thought they were ingenious, I was questioning their sanity.  As you can imagine, getting liquid hand soap off a linoleum floor is quite the job. 

There were three takeaways I learned that day:

1. Being a successful leader often means knowing when to apply certain leadership principles and when to apply others. There are many books, quotes, and articles that talk about the best leadership principles and many of them are right on track, the true knowledge and sign of a successful leader is in knowing when and where to apply them. General Patton was correct in the above quote, a leader can be surprised by the end result. In order to get the right kind of surprise or end result, sometimes a few parameters may be needed. The goal of a good leader should be to let their team operate in such as way as they can provide the desired results with little intervention from the leader. A leader should be willing to pitch in and help when it is needed but their main function should be to guide, set the course, and encourage their team to arrive at the desired the goal.
2. When the results surprise you, don't always react negatively. Sometimes these moments become teachable moments and can be used to instruct and teach. Overreacting or losing your temper at these kind of moments rarely achieves the desired result. That day I let the lesson of them cleaning the soap off the floor the proper way, be the lesson as to why you don't skate in liquid soap to clean the floor.  Now there were some stern words on the safety issues of skating in a bathroom where they could have fallen and hit their head on the counter, tub, etc., but the overall goal was understanding on their part so they would not repeat the same result and patience on mine to not take over the project and do it "the right way". 
3. Everyday events have the ability to teach us a lot about ourselves and others. Leadership requires being teachable and having a willingness to learn things from events whether the outcome is positive or difficult. Learning and being teachable should help us become the best us and leader we can become. 

I often smile when I come across General Patton's quote. It reminds me, not only of the day of skating in liquid soap but also reminds me sometimes I need to provide parameters and step back and sometimes I need to be more involved. Leadership principles and ideas should guide and direct and provide a foundation to operate from but in the end, it is knowing which ones to use and when that distinguishes the successful leader.