Jacob Robertson

If you know me, you know I am a fan of the hit television show, The Office. Not the British version, albeit, Ricky Gervais is a comedic genius. Here, I am referring to the U.S. version of deadpan office humor starring Steve Carrell as Michael Scott. One of my favorite episodes of the show is called “Fire Drill.” To provide a bit of context: Dwight has repeatedly shown the staff a PowerPoint presentation outlining the proper procedures in the case of a fire. He has suspicions that no one was paying any attention. He decides to start a little fire in a trash can to check if the staff would properly respond. Once the fire is noticed, people quickly begin to respond…in all the wrong ways. They run around in a frenzy trying to determine the best exit. To add insult to injury, Michael Scott, the leader, comes running out of his office and starts yelling along with everyone else. Ultimately, Dwight tells the staff that this has just been a test of their fire preparedness.

I really can’t do the scene justice in narrative form. But what needs to be understood is that when leaders fail to provide direction in both critical and non-critical situations, confusion often ensues. Instead of Michael leading the staff through the proper protocol and deescalating the situation, he chose to adapt to the greater response – chaos and confusion. A temptation of every leader is to mimic the poor responses of those they lead. For example, if I go to my manager complaining about a situation, and that manager chimes in complaining about the same issue, do you think that brings clarity or only increases confusion? A much better response would be to listen, ask clarifying questions, and get all the information you can before you respond. Situations can often become more serious and in those times will require thought and maybe even wise counsel from other leaders.

What’s worse than a leader asking his staff to do something that he himself is not doing? In the case of this episode of The Office, Michael proclaims “Stay calm! Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!” He is shouting this at the top of his lungs with obvious trepidation, and running from one end of the office to the other. What he was demonstrating to his staff was that is was okay to react this way. And as such, the rest of the office responded with the same behavior. The leader must be careful to demonstrate what he is asking everyone else to do. This, in and of itself, can bring much clarity.

Positive leadership removes confusion. It really does. When leaders are clear about the direction of the team, defining expectations, communicating clearly, and providing practical feedback and instruction, there is a smaller chance of confusion. Whether you are in a defined leadership role or not, you have influence. Use your influence to bring clarity to your team and not confusion. If you are a defined leader on your team, make sure you are being the leader your team needs you to be. Provide continuous clarity and define expectations, thus, bringing more clarity to the team and less confusion.