On Friday 27 June, I attended the funeral of my boss of seven years, Andrew Wickham MBE. It was a day filled with an array of emotions including great sadness, but there was also laughter, reflection, and admiration.
It left me reflecting on something that Andrew delivered seemingly effortlessly and accurately: Authentic leadership.
Employees want to work for someone they can trust, can approach, can present questions and suggestions to in the knowledge that they will be listened to, and who they look up to. Andrew ticked all these boxes and many more. For someone like me who was developing my career and learning fast, he made it all look very easy.
As we move through our careers and gain more life experience, it becomes more likely that we will be able to identify good, bad and indifferent leaders.
A good boss will have a long-lasting effect on his or her direct reports. People tend to notice management styles that are successful and achieve good results, and some will then emulate those themselves.
However, it is also true that bad people managers generate followers and ‘replicators.’ Thinking back to the least inspiring boss that I ever reported to, I clearly recall that some of their direct reports developed very similar styles and approaches.
Behaviour certainly bred behaviour, and the result of that bad leadership was a culture of fear, backstabbing, distrust, and negativity. I did not stay long!
In my early-20s, I went on a training course led by John Owen, former Managing Director of Swindon-based Thamesdown.
A lot of what I was taught then became useful in the following months and years, but one question particularly stuck in my mind: “If you asked your direct reports who had come into contact with you over the last few weeks whether they thought you were fair, decent, approachable and someone they look up to, what would they say?”
That is just as pertinent today as it was 20 years ago. People have a choice of operators to work for and inevitably, the feel of a company – which is directly influenced by those who lead it – is a significant contributor to their choices.
In my experience, the more enthusiastic, hard-working, approachable and authentic a leader is, the more people want to work for them. However, if a manager is detached, impersonal or seemingly disinterested, you can almost feel teams falling apart.
Very large teams are absolutely as difficult to manager as small teams. A minor rift in a small team can be extremely tricky, because the few people within that team have to work so closely together.
A rift in a large team can also be very problematic, because many small pools of conversation start in big organisations and are then fuelled by others. It is difficult to deal with them as there are so many people involved. Also, it is inevitable that in a large team, the leader is not as well known by those closer to the ground, so it is difficult for their authentic leadership to be seen or experienced.
Andrew dealt with all these challenges through a combination of being very visible within the business and depots while making sure that he was always available to attend employee meetings.
I genuinely do not think there was anyone in Go South Coast who did not know who Andrew Wickham was, which – given the size of the business – is admirable. I have been to far smaller companies where employees have asked me “who is that?” when I have referenced the local MD.
Andrew’s unique combination of enthusiasm, approachability, good humour, professionalism and commitment to always taking his team with him on the journey made him a standout leader and one who was incredibly inspiring to work for.
Without any doubt at all, Andrew was one of the good ‘uns, and he leaves an incredible legacy behind.
