It’s my job to tell me when it’s ten o’clock. “He said, literally, to his fellow workers, ‘I don’t work for no buzzer. Cross,” had “an epiphany,” as Harman describes it. But one worker, “an old black man with an almost biblical name, Noah B. When the buzzer that announced the workers’ break went on the fritz, management arbitrarily decided to postpone the break for ten minutes, when another buzzer was scheduled to sound. The men on the night shift were supposed to get a coffee break at 10 pm. He immediately rushed to the Bolivar factory, a facility that was, as Harman now recalls, “raw, ugly, and, in many ways, demeaning.” The problem, he found, had erupted in the polish and buff department, where a crew of a dozen workers, mostly African-Americans, did the dull, hard work of polishing mirrors and other parts, often under unhealthy conditions. One day while at the college, he was told his company’s factory in Bolivar, Tennessee, was having a crisis. Juggling the two jobs, Harman was living what he calls a “bifurcated life,” changing clothes in his car and eating lunch as he drove between Harman Kardon offices and plants and the Friends World campus. He was the chief executive of Harman Kardon (now Harman International), the audio components company he had cofounded, and he was serving as president of Friends World College, now Friends World Program, an experimental Quaker school on Long Island whose essential philosophy is that students, not their teachers, are responsible for their education. Thirty-four years ago, the then-48-year-old businessman was holding down two executive positions. Essential Leadership Skillsįour skills enable leaders to learn from adversity: Jordan’s response empowered him to become an esteemed lawyer and presidential advisor. Rather than letting Maddox’s sadism destroy him, Jordan interpreted the behavior as a desperate lashing out by someone who knew the era of the Old South was ending. Maddox, Vernon Jordan endured repeated racial heckling from Maddox. While working for former Atlanta mayor Robert F. Whatever the shape, leaders create a narrative telling how they met the challenge and became better for it. Some crucibles are violent and life-threatening (encounters with prejudice, illness) others are more positive, yet profoundly challenging (such as demanding bosses or mentors). He considers the rebellion the formative event in his career-the moment he became a true leader. Pioneering participative management, Harman transformed his plant into a kind of campus, offering classes and encouraging dissent.
To Harman, this refusal to bow to management’s senseless rule suggested a surprising link between student-driven education and business. “I don’t work for no buzzer,” one proclaimed.
After managers postponed a scheduled break because the buzzer didn’t sound, workers rebelled. Sidney Harman-co-founder of audio components company Harman Kardon and president of an experimental college encouraging student-driven education-encountered his crucible when “all hell broke loose” in one of his factories. The Idea in Practice The Crucible ExperienceĬrucibles force leaders into deep self-reflection, where they examine their values, question their assumptions, and hone their judgment. Crucibles are intense, often traumatic-and always unplanned. Such transformative events are called crucibles-a severe test or trial. Like phoenixes rising from the ashes, they emerge from adversity stronger, more confident in themselves and their purpose, and more committed to their work. What enables one leader to inspire confidence, loyalty, and hard work, while others-with equal vision and intelligence-stumble? How individuals deal with adversity provides a clue.Įxtraordinary leaders find meaning in-and learn from-the most negative events.
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