How can you flip your own pyramid as a leader?
Thoughts today from two models of #OpenLeadership, James Timpson and Peter Lederer.
James Timpson and Flipping the Pyramid
This image came from a tweet by the leader of Timpson’s, James Timpson, a model of #OpenLeadership and someone I have written about often (see search link for articles here). His tweet is simple and profound:
Running a business upside down is far more fun than telling everyone what to do…helping and trusting people to run the business on your behalf makes sense both culturally and financially. Less control…more trust and kindness instead! pic.twitter.com/ewYQSo6jGW
— James Timpson (@JamesTCobbler) July 22, 2022
Peter Lederer and being a “Sage Warrior”
I was given the idea of “Flipping the Pyramid” for leaders some years ago when I interviewed my friend and mentor Peter Lederer for a book I was writing (yet to be completed!) on Leadership Archetypes. The blog: “Are you a Sage Warrior? or perhaps a Visionary Magician?” captures the concept, that you can bring forward the energy of one archetype while filling the role of another. This, again from years ago, formed the basis of my thinking on #OpenLeadership.
Anyway, in talking to Peter in an interview about the concept of these seven leadership archetypes, he told me a few stories of his time as the leader of what became one of the very top hotels in the world, Gleneagles.
One of these was his epiphany that to really change things, to have all staff feel empowered to provide the world-class service he knew Gleneagles needed to deliver, he had to “flip the pyramid”, to have himself and all senior managers release control and instead sit at the bottom of a flipped pyramid, to support and empower.
Peter did this, and for more from Peter, listen to his guest slot on #WhatComesNextLive here. Peter is indeed Sage in how he shows up, and at the same time, as a business leader, there were times he had to fill the role of different leadership archetypes, including a Warrior. Now imagine what that looks like in a flipped pyramid?
How can you flip your own pyramid as a leader?