This July/August (2008) issue of the Harvard Business Review has a short report on an unusual study that, in its very design is fascinating, but its conclusions are even more striking and run counter to traditional views of masculinity and its relationship to leadership. The study, conducted by Drs. Robin Ely and Debra Meyerson, professor and assoc. professor, respectively, at the Harvard Business School, was a longitudinal study of offshore oil rig roughnecks and roustabouts and their learning, with experience, to becoming leaders and team members in the context of this very tough, dangerous work. We all know, us couch potatoes, that these kinds of guys are depicted in ads as the strongest and manliest of the manly, whether that image is used to sell trucks, beer, or aftershave. How do they behave and change in the context of their real work?

Well, Ely and Meyerson discovered that these oil platforms have, over 15 years, "jettisoned their hard-driving, macho culture in favor of an environment in which men, (ed- while focusing on the mission and mutual wellbeing), admit when they've made mistakes" and explore the possible causes in themselves or in their environment; "they appreciate each other publicly and routinely ask for help." They shifted their focus from being masculine (which, I think they didn't really need to worry about) to such goals as safety, co-worker wellbeing, and improved job effectiveness. Wow!

 This profound shift began at the top and eventually created a cultural change where men were not afraid to be open to new information (even if it contradicted their opinions), admit when they were wrong, or that they were having trouble with some challenge and needed help. They learned that their macho behavior got in the way of their effectiveness, including leadership. "The ones who excelled were the mission-driven guys who cared about their fellow worker, were good listeners and willing to learn." The company's accident rate declined by 84% over that time while productivity, efficiency, and reliability "increased beyond the industry's previous benchmark."

 However, there were unintended effects. These are what intrigued me. The men's willingness to "blow their image" and sacrifice it to the truth in order to do something well "profoundly influenced their sense of who they were and could be as men" observed the authors. In trying to be "men" previously (and prove themselves) they had been endangering themselves, their fellow workers and their effectiveness. By focusing on and being open to truth in light of their mission, and on their fellow workers they increasingly excelled where it counted.

 This lesson in the power of an organizational culture that strives to combine the key virtues of truth-seeking (an attribute of integrity), excellence (another attribute of integrity), and respect (an attribute of compassion) with humility is deep. Everything begins with core values, what we deem virtues, and profoundly affects organizational performance, including employee growth and sense of well-being. As a friend of mine says, "Culture eats strategy for lunch."

But for me there is one other insightful discovery in this constellation of character or attitude attributes with which these guys perhaps would not immediately identify (at least until they understood). It occurs when these attributes are blended in an individual. The Greeks applied the word praus or prautes to a war horse that was well trained and capable of responsive and reliable performance in the heat of battle, a horse big and powerful yet reliably responsive & obedient to his rider under chaotic and dangerous conditions. That word is translated meekness, of all words, in the English Bible, a word we profoundly misunderstand and have a hard time visualizing. Yet it is held up as a vital virtue. I wish there was a different word; it is so misunderstood. I've been searching for a contemporary practical illustration; I think I now may have found one. The men possessing these attributes truly represent the original actual intent of that word - teachable strength and competence under self control for a higher reason, in their case the mission, safety, and their fellow workers. It might be difficult to find a more dramatic personification: a tough, strong, dirty, thoughtful, teachable, off-shore oil roughneck focused on mission, fellow workers, and safety. Rather startling, isn't it?