Management by Walking Out of the Room: A Method from John F. Kennedy’s Leadership Playbook

The best leaders are keenly aware that their very presence can stifle the free expression of ideas, debate, and innovation on their teams – even if when such powerful people are gracious, listen well, and encourage people to speak their minds, we all learn to be careful about what we say around those who wield power over our fates.

Creating conditions that spark free expression and debate is especially important when a team faces a complex and high stakes situation and needs to think creatively about the path to take; or when, as Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman puts it, a person or team is in a “cognitive mine field.”

This is one reason, as I say in my old creativity book, Weird Ideas That Work, that "sometimes the best management is no management at all." The best leaders constantly fret about ways to be less vivid and intimidating so that more varied ideas will be expressed and debated on their teams and in their organizations. One of my favorite methods is “management by walking out of the room.” Smart leaders sometimes physically remove themselves from the setting so that their mere presence doesn't stifle the thinking and suggestions in a group of otherwise similar-status peers.

Two examples come to mind. Most famously was what happened in October of 1962 when President John F. Kennedy's advisers were debating about what to do about the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union was taking steps to place missiles topped with nuclear weapons just 90 miles from Florida. Kennedy not only gathered experts with diverse opinions and knowledge and encouraged them to express their opinion. As Irving Janis reports in his writings on Groupthink, at one point, Kennedy divided the larger group (pictured) into multiple sub-groups and asked each to develop solutions — in order to avoid excessive and premature consensus.

Kennedy also reduced the potentially stifling effects of his status as president by being deliberately absent from these subgroup meetings, Although historians and psychologists continue to debate how important such measures to avoid groupthink were for producing the decisions that ultimately defused the crisis, I think the more general lesson holds: sometimes the best way for a leader to reduce undue influence is to leave the room or avoid going to meetings where his or her presence will dampen frank discussion and deep examination of facts.

Similarly, David Kelley, the main founder of both IDEO and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford ( d.school ) impressed me with his ability to "lead by getting out of the way" for nearly 20 years. I have been to many meetings were David was careful to avoid saying too much or expressing a strong opinion. And he has this habit that, when he thinks things in a meeting at IDEO or the d.school are really starting to go well, he gently slinks to the back of the room to reduce his impact. And he often quietly leaves the group. When his opinion and authority is required, David doesn't hesitate to interject. But I've always been impressed with how sensitive David is to the power of his position (and reputation as one of the most creative people on the U.S. business scene). Much like Kennedy did so brilliantly, Kelley understands the power of leading by getting out of the way.

Of course, there are many times when a leader can’t walk out of the room. In such cases, I look for a couple other signs that he or she is encouraging open discussion and debate. The first is simply talking time — how much air time does the leader takes versus everyone else on the team. The less a leader talks and the more he or she actually listens, the more ideas will be on the table – and people in the room will feel as if they have permission to speak.

The second sign comes courtesy of my co-author Huggy Rao. He counts how many questions a leader asks makes versus how many statements he or she makes. When a leader asks questions and carefully listens to the answers, more ideas get on the table from more people (David Kelley is especially adept at asking great questions and is a great listener). But when the leaders makes on statement after another, he or she is conveying (even if unintentionally) that the ideas and opinions of others don’t matter much. And such bosses often believe that they ought to talk more than anyone else because, after all, they are the smartest person in the room!

I first heard Huggy talk about this ratio some four or five years ago after we spent all day in a horrible meeting where there the most senior executive spent hour after hour lecturing his talented colleagues — and he rarely asked a question. After he had droned on for about four hours, one of his colleagues leaned over and apologized for the top dog and lamented “he is all transmission and no reception.”

These are just a few ideas about how high status people can avoid stifling the ideas and suggestions generated by those who don't have as much power and prestige. I would love to hear others from LinkedIn readers.

I am a Stanford Professor who studies and writes about leadership, organizational change, and navigating organizational life. I have written eight books, including the bestsellers Scaling Up Excellence, The No Asshole Rule, and Good Boss, Bad Boss. Follow me on X/Twitter @work_matters and visit my website and posts on LinkedIn. My main focus these days is on The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder, my new book with "Huggy" Hayagreeva Rao.

Photo sources: Kennedy speaking, Flickr; Executive committee: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, in public domain.

Pst Jane Archie Wiseman

Student at Stanford University

1d

l am loving everything about this course there is such good information for me to exercise to be the best of me in all l do. Thank You....

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Semir Idris

Software Developer & Data Engineer | BCS Membership | Student Rep at University of Bolton | Open to Cyber Security Trainee l Vol for Care4Calais

1mo

Above and beyond this approach, which involves leaders listening more than speaking and asking questions instead of making comments, is essential for encouraging innovative solutions and avoiding suppressing ideas caused by power imbalances.

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Nelly Balderas, CPIM

Customer Service Manager at Chromalox

9mo

How important is to listen to our teams, on a leadership course I took in Colombia years ago I heard about the term of being a Balcony leaders, that is just like you mentioned leaving out the room and letting the team do their job freely. Great concepts. Thank you for sharing.

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Vikram Jit Singh Kohli

I write about personal growth, leadership confidence, and self-awareness. Your guide to personal development and success.

9mo

Great article. This is one of the best qualities in a leader to walk out of the room. Very few people understand the true meaning of leadership and how to behave like a leader. If your immaturity and stupidity keep you from realizing the truth, then the best thing is to remove you immediately from that position or shift you to another role. Bad leaders produce low quality results, and the biggest impact is on the organizational growth.

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David C. Martin

dcm.me #IBuildAndCoachSalesTeams #IBuyAndGrowBusinesses #ITradeLeaseSellCommercialProperties #IGrowMindsets #IGrowIncomes #IIncreaseYouthfulLongevity 💖 I believe everyone can live a life they love! #MonetizeYourPassions

11mo

Self-Managed Organizations permanently install this idea! By having no singular leader.

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