The Barracuda Leader: Visuality and Lunch

The barracuda is an ambush fish, capable of speeds of 25 mph and feared by all but killer whales and sharks. If confronted by one of those enemies and there is no place to hide, the barracuda simply attacks. Whether hunting or escaping, the barracuda is a formidable predator.

I find myself contemplating the barracuda’s traits when I consider much of the current discussion on leadership. That conversation places great emphasis on the leader’s capacity to be values-driven, express humility, not take credit, and generally be—and be seen as—a really nice person. The irony of this in a time of brutal politics is that political correctness (PC) is valued above and beyond almost any other leader-like behavior. I value those traits as well—but it’s a PC-centered world. So very little is heard of the importance of a leader’s determination, single-mindedness, focus, ability to drive, super-smarts or savvy. No one denies the primacy of these, the business-end of a leader’s work. But no one is talking about them.

So I raise the question: Don’t we need both in our leaders? My answer is YES. But just as there are course after endless course and book upon book promoting, teaching, and otherwise supporting the “nice side” of leadership, there is little that helps us understand and cultivate the “non-nice side.” Notice I did not use the word not nice side. Nobody wants a mean and growly leader—harsh, demanding, and vindictive. There only one way to deal with such a boss—show them the door! Or teach them a new way.

In the next few issues, I want to discuss that new way…through the lens of visuality: how to cultivate the business-end—the non-nice side of leadership—for leaders who are either unduly intense or unduly relaxed. In my view this is one and the same problem, opposite ends of the same pole. The remedy? Learn and use the principles and practices of visual leadership.

The connection between skilled leadership and visuality may not be readily apparent but it is nonetheless there—and it is powerful. Said in the fewest possible words: that connection is the same as the one between clarity and structure. More about this as we move along.

Now let’s begin to build this case by describing the high-value/high-competency profile of the non-nice leader—the barracuda.

The barracuda leader is a man or woman who is always hungry—and always looking for lunch. The hunger is for excellence and lunch is the next improvement breakthrough, the next jump, preferably a quantum one.
You know these people. They are genuinely nice human beings; in fact, that is one of the requirements of barracuda leadership. Friendly, diplomatic, smooth, balanced, easy-going, even sunny. But on the inside, they are a riot of demand—for results, for change, for progress. Barracudas. Unrelenting, savvy, hungry.

Hungry. Always Hungry. That’s the barracuda leader.

More often than not, today’s barracuda leaders did not start their careers that way. They were not born to that cloth. They had to learn to lead. And, in learning to become leaders, they dispelled the myth of the “natural born-leader.”

Let’s continue this discussion next week. Let the workplace speak.

NEXT WEEK IN THE VISUAL THINKER: HOW THE STRUCTURE OF VISUALITY FREES THE LEADER WITHIN.

Visit us at www.visualworkplace.com to learn more about how to arrange for Dr. Galsworth to work with your company—and to learn more about our visual workplace books, online training systems, and other products and services to support workplace visuality.