Leadership - What would Don Draper Do?

I spent a good part of last week unplugged from my iPhone and emails while immersed in a Grinnell Leadership program last week. While a bit disconcerting at first, I learned to live in the moment and focus on myself and my thoughts about leadership. While no earth-shattering insights have emerged, I do have more awareness of thoughts, feelings, patterns and behaviors within myself and those around me. And that, according to John Grinnell, is a critical leadership skill in this day and age.

Let me try to explain what I think John means by offering my observation from watching recent episodes of Mad Men on AMC. For those of you who have not been near a TV in the last 5 years, Mad Men is a TV show that takes place in a fictional New York advertising agency in the 1960's. It follows the trials and tribulations of Don Draper, one of the principals in the firm, and how he deals with a world that is rapidly changing around him. One of the things you learn about Don is that he holds to a rigid world view that puts him above all others and causes him to behave in a way that subordinates and intimidates those around him.

I think the appeal of the show is that it harks back to a seemingly simpler time when men were in positions of unquestioned authority and got what they wanted based on their station in life. And as many male viewers who would like to be in Don Draper's shoes today, there are probably very few viewers, male or female, who would in good conscience choose to be a direct report of Don Draper's. Why is that? I believe that in this modern age, men and women (especially) have many options who they work for and the types of environments they work in. Furthermore, technology and communication have made information flow very fast and more transparent. People chose whom they wish to follow and learn very quickly to avoid leaders who lack integrity or character.

So before you mix that whiskey sour and start channeling your inner Don Draper at the office, think carefully how he would cope in this era of team-oriented, self-actualizing and socially responsible employees - he would go ...absolutely mad(!).