Marmite and the Leadership Conundrum
/The recent Marmite spat in the UK between behemoth retailer Tesco and mega consumer goods producer Unilever was entertaining while it lasted. Something that 50% of the population can’t stand (I am referring to the potent yeast extract, not the supplier or seller) was briefly unavailable on Tesco's website and the national press, BBC and social media went mad. A combination of pre-Brexit sterling devaluation and a proper negotiation ‘ding-dong’ (a technical term in supply chain management) meant that 50% of toast spread fetishists might have to go without Marmite the next time they ordered an online delivery.
Half the country were outraged, half the country were not bothered. Such polarity seems to be a feature of so many other aspects of business and political life. The margins might vary “at the margins” so to speak, but political choices are becoming more and more like Marmite conundrums and just too close to call. 52% voted to the leave the EU, 48% wished to remain. This month, after over 50 years of civil warfare in Columbia, a peace deal was rejected by the "no" camp: 50.21 percent to 49.78 percent, a difference of less than 60,000 votes out of a total of 13 million. The US Presidential election in 2000 between Bush and Gore turned on the narrowest margin of victory; less than 0.5% of the votes cast. Half the country thought that cool, half the country thought the world would subsequently melt. The US seems again split down the middle on a choice between two different flavours of Marmite: both loved and loathed, but equally unpalatable to the impartial observer (if anyone can be impartial about the leader of the free world). These fine margins between yes and no, between right and left, form a good tradition between love and hate, which got me thinking about leaders [and in a more profound way than just an excuse to reference a Tinita Tikaram hit from the late 1980’s].
The Marmite Leader
There are of course other manifestations of this Marmite schism and one which is commonly experienced by almost all here reading Linked-In: The Marmite Boss. We’ve all worked for him or her. Revered or revolting, depending on where you stand. The Marmite boss might attract fierce loyalty from some and deep antipathy from others. Some managers inspire the spirit, some devour your very soul. The Marmite boss seems to be equally spread across organisations both large and small and even the most ambitious and creative teams seem hampered by a leader who is seen by half the team as Voldemort and the rest as The Chosen One. I once worked for one boss who would fire contract staff while bouncing a tennis ball off the wall above their heads while the boom-box under his desk played Another One Bites The Dust. I couldn't bear to be in the lift with him for 40 seconds. A close colleague thought "he rocked" (citing a whole range of a qualities I had been oblivious to) and went on to work for him for nearly a decade. Depending on their perspective, some would swim the ocean for him, while others considered defenestration.
What then is the secret ingredient to good leadership? What makes a manager a good or a terrible one? Searching through a few models of leadership I think I may have stumbled across a few clues. A leadership professional recently merrily shared on here the requisite qualities needed for good leadership. All ONE HUNDRED of them! Another detailed the matrix of "31 essential qualities". Another a coherent argument for a mere "24 levels of leadership". This complexity might explain why some of the numerous ingredients just get badly formulated in the mix; that the supposed qualities that make some leaders inspire, make others a disaster to be around.
There are innumerable models of leadership; synthesising the various tendencies, qualities, preferences and behaviours that become the "hero" or the "psychopath", but the key seems to be in how you personally respond to these; how they accord with your own values, outlook and point of view. It's complicated and hard sometimes to discern good and bad.
Perhaps it's a matter of taste?
