Architects as Leaders
Architects are expected to lead diverse groups including- planners, developers, tenants, contractors, sub-contractors, community groups, city officials and politicians, consulting engineers and many others.
You aren't necessarily in a popularity contest as a leader- your job, rather, is to make your views, positions and goals popular amongst your broadly defined team.
You should know that there are many people who do not want to be leaders and they don't want to be led either. Many people spend a lot of energy trying to avoid responsibility and covering up their mistakes. I respect people who will first look in the mirror to see of there is anything they can do to improve a situation. Here is a tongue-in-cheek look at avoidance and cya behaviour. Engineers and computer nerds love flow charts- here is a worthy example of anti-leadership behaviour. It is quite a clever strategy for staying out of trouble- it cycles back in on itself. However, this is not the type of effort that put people on the moon and returned them safely to earth.You need to be able to communicate well- in public, in meetings, one on one. You need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively and to think-on-your-feet. You need to tell the truth, the smart truth. Always practice and rehearse before a presentation, Verne Chant once recommended. Think things through. If you don't know the answer to a question, say so. Never guess. Say that you will get back to them on that. Never agree to anything without giving yourself a chance for a timeout, Rod Bryden once told me. Say something like: "That sounds reasonable, let me think about it overnight and we'll get together tomorrrow to decide." Give your subconcious a day to mull it over and you'll be surprised at how you can improve things or clarify things that will be an advatage to both sides.
If you can write well, this is a huge advantage. As my PhD thesis supervisor, Max Neutze, told me: "It's the first million words that are the toughest, Bruce." Like most other things, you get better with practice, so practice!
A Vancouver legal secretary was recently awarded the top prize for bad writing (Nationa Post July 11, 2001). Here is her introduction to an imaginary novel:
"A small assortment of astonishingly loud brass instruments raced each other lustily to the respective ends of their distinct musical choices as the gates flew open to release a torrent of tawny fur comprised of angry yapping bullets that nipped at Desdemona's ankles, causing her to reflect once again (as blood filled her sneakers and she fought her way through the panicking crowd) that the annual Running of the Pomeranians in Licechenstein was a stupid idea."
