most significant barrier to adapting to this new model of leadership is overcoming established norms for leader conduct.
For many years, before free agency, baseball players and fans shared a fairly close bond. Baseball players were human beings, accessible both in terms of being members of the communities for which they played and of having a lifestyle and career that was within reach of the average fan. The business of baseball, encompassing free agency and television revenues, created and progressively widened the divide between the average fan and their on-field heroes. Suddenly, both the players and the hope of becoming a professional athlete seemed inaccessible.
Community, political, and business leaders seem to have gone through a similar evolution. As organizations and aspirations grew in scale, there seemed an increasing distance between the average person and the top brass. Open-door policies were more about perception than reality. They lacked follow-through and often seemed to haunt the career of the person who was bold enough to test the policy.
Social media has done more than just introduce the notion that there is a shorter distance between the average person and a leader of any sort. It has challenged the very way leaders must conduct themselves. Sincerity and vulnerability, long found in the liability side of the ledger, have fast become valuable assets.
It’s been said leaders are in their role because they hold themselves to a higher standard. As social norms have evolved, the standard is becoming increasingly human (we expand on this topic later in this chapter).
Rewards for Being Yourself
Peter Aceto agrees there is a perception that many leaders lack human qualities. In his role as the President and CEO of Canadian bank Tangerine (which operated as ING Direct Canada until April 2014), he is one of a growing number of leaders whose style allows a human organization to flourish. He’s also cracked the code of human interactions online.
“I’ve come to the determination that I will be a better leader inside our organization, and outside for our customers, if I’m real and authentic,” Aceto told us. “I empathize with customers who are upset because they’re frustrated because we made a mistake or they can’t get the answer they want. And I empathize with employees and what it’s like to have a young family or to have your father be sick.”
Aceto confided that it wasn’t his instinct to be real and authentic when he was charting his own career in law and business. He was all too aware of what was expected with respect to workplace personas. It was a mentor at ING Direct who sat him down one day for a chat. His mentor listed things he knew about Aceto. The list included difficulties Aceto faced with his father and Aceto’s love of hockey. He suggested Aceto allow these things to be known to the people around him rather than trying to appear perfect all the time. Being himself, tearing down the facade, would allow others to be interested in him and more interested in being led by him.
Aceto admits this advice had a significant impact on his success as a leader. “I’ve been rewarded for being myself in life and in work.” He notes that being vulnerable and letting down his facade has created openings for people to trust him.
If people don’t trust you, your marketing won’t be worth anything. This is another lesson Aceto learned, one that tested his leadership and relied heavily on his style.
ING Direct Canada ran an ad campaign for their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) product in January 2013. Research suggested RRSP season caused Canadians to feel anxious and stressed about the decisions ahead of them, so the campaign hinged on ads portraying people who looked overwhelmed with an ailment identified as “RRSP” which ING would help cure. The TV spots were posted online.
The ads were not well received. Not long after they were released, people, particularly those who are affected by mental health issues, expressed their disgust at the ads, saying they were in poor taste. While depression was not directly stated in the ads, it was clear the ads suggested that idea. In addition to the online backlash, Aceto personally received emails from people whose loved ones had suffered from mental illness and had taken their own lives. Gut-wrenching emails.
Aceto made the decision to pull the ads and issue an apology six days after the ING campaign was launched. He’s pleased with and proud of having made that call and notes five specific facts regarding his decision to pull the ad.
1 It was the right decision. Aceto and ING never meant to offend anyone and they didn’t foresee the offence. Had they, the campaign would not have run.
2 It was a costly decision. Aside from a misspent marketing budget, there was a negative impact on ING’s sales of RRSP products that season/year from both the criticism and the missed opportunity to market their products.
3 The decision to pull the ad and apologize was well received and apparently earned Aceto and ING some positive recognition.
4 In hindsight, he should have made the decision more quickly.
5 He and his company are not perfect. They occasionally let people down. When they do, they are obliged to apologize. And they turn it into a learning experience to improve the way they do business.
Leadership Encounters of Another Kind
The world came to know Commander Chris Hadfield from December 2012 through May 2013 … and beyond. Hadfield lived aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during those six months, serving as commander for the last three. His breathtaking photographs of our planet and outer space, insightful tweets about life on Earth, and videos of living in space made him something of a celebrity. It was his version of David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity” that turned Commander Hadfield into an international space sensation.
What many people don’t know is that none of the tweets or videos would have happened if not for Hadfield’s son, Evan.
The younger Hadfield worked tirelessly to coordinate social media content from the ISS and interactions between his father and the public. Evan’s efforts did something for space travel that hasn’t existed in nearly fifty years, since the lunar landings: He helped create a strong bond between the public and the space program.
There’s a wonderful metaphor in how he describes public fascination with what he had his father sharing from the ISS.
“Space has historically been beyond the reach of the average citizen,” Evan told us. “Now there’s the expectation that space is coming within the reach of the average citizen.”
We agree. Social media isn’t just shortening the distance between ourselves and the potential of a vacation in space because Chris Hadfield showed us how to brush our teeth in zero gravity. It’s allowing anyone considering a career at a financial institution or looking to hone her leadership skills to come within reach of people like Peter Aceto.
In fact, it was through social media that we made contact with Evan shortly after his father started tweeting from the ISS.
We admit that it may seem unfair to compare a business operation on planet Earth to an orbiting mecca of technological innovation. What we’re really talking about is building a human connection with your audience using whichever on-ramp you can identify. Often, that’s about allowing others to see where they fit within the experience. The space example means that when Evan and Chris fielded requests for photos, they were often from people who wanted to see their own hometowns.
“That sounds like an ego thing,” Evan dismissed. “Really, what people are saying is ‘show me where I am in all of this. How do I look in comparison to this whole world? Where am I in this world of experience? How do I fit in?’ That’s what we tried
