Residence in ivory towers

Is there an address to Ivory towers? Does it exist? Indeed it exists, but is uninhabitable. Ivory tower is located in Antarctica; it is a small peak rising to about 2600 feet above sea level, between the Harold Byrd Mountains and the Bender Mountain. It is so named because the composition of the peak is nearly all white marble. If it is not habitable, readers may question if the caption to this piece is appropriate. For sure, the title is apt. Living in ivory towers is an idiomatic phrase. It is not real. But it is used as a figure of speech. What does it mean?

Being or living in ivory towers, as per dictionary meaning is, “A state of privileged seclusion or separation from the facts and practicalities of the real world”. A common idiom in use to indicate escapist attitude. The lack of knowledge or experience of everyday practical issues represents an ivory tower living. This is also referred to as, ‘ivory tower Syndrome’. The person who coined this idiom is Sainte-Beuve, the French literary critic, who used it for the first time, while examining the work of his friend and contemporary, Alfred de Vigny, a French poet, romanticist, novelist and dramatist, in the 19th century.

The section of society that has the most propensity to be afflicted with this disorder or ailment of serious nature are the politicians. When the Queen recommends that people who are faced with a shortage of daily bread must resort to eating cakes, it is that thought process which happens when the mind takes up permanent residence in the ivory towers. Leadership tends to get completely divorced with its followership. This condition can persist in other segments of society, including the corporate and business world.

The CEO, if he is disconnected with the employees of the organisation, is akin to the GHQ being unaware of what’s happening in the theatre of war, to its troops. Leadership cannot be conceived without followership. Leaders who keep in focus the common interests of their followers, remain closest to them. To achieve the stardom status of being a leader, it is therefore essential that a leader must know and have full and complete understanding of the expectations, hopes, issues and concerns of the followers. The detachment from the team that is on the field, can lead to the production of goods and services that are costly to produce, and yet unbeknownst to itself, the company continues to do so, risking its existence. The ivory tower’s personality is usually one of being the escapist from reality. In situations of crisis many leaders behave like the ostrich who dig their necks into the sand, hoping nothing wrong would happen. Non acceptance of reality leads to illusion. The other idiom or meaning in vogue in the USA market is “Halls of Ivy”, this is more in relation to intellectual isolation or seclusion.

John Milton, the Cambridge intellectual, a poet par excellence; he draws to himself, wisdom, thorough, introspection in the ivory towers … “Or let my lamp, at Midnight hour, be seen in some highly lonely tower, what I may oft outreach the Bear, with thrice great Hermes, or unsphere the Spirit of Plato, these pleasures, melancholy give, and I with thee will choose to live”.

To be creative, leaders, artists, sculptors, writers, etc retire into their self-owned and self-designed ivory towers; so do politicians, both when they are in the wilderness and when they are active in office. Leaders like Nelson Mandela and Nehru, looked at their place of incarceration as an ivory tower, to think beyond the visible horizon of thought. Freedom, whilst in prison, appears as a utopian thought. So ivory tower thinking is not necessarily day dreaming. It allows us to think.

By definition, it represents escapism from reality, hence, followers respond to the dwellers of the ivory towers with a certain measure of disillusionment. They remain wary of the practicality of the task by the leader. The disengagement from the reality of market forces, provokes inabilities, where the manager is unable to suggest and recommend fresh initiatives. Everything is a dangerous drug except reality, which is unendurable. Reality is in “Now”, not earlier, nor in the future. The past is only a guide to “Now” and “Reality” is a force and outcome of “Now”. This reality has potential to unleash a better next moment or years, only if the manager/leader remains cognisant of the significance of reality and has the ability to stare it in the eye ... and not go packing into the ivory towers of refusal to accept reality. The choice to remain aloof is not an option available to an enlightened leader.

Leaders/managers, especially those in numero uno position, who remain confined to their cabins and cubicles, over time, lose touch with the views and opinions of their colleagues. This leads to being oblivious of the challenges faced by them in completing their tasks. Such leaders/managers deprive themselves from gaining knowledge of the changes in the marketplace; which may put the institution into major disadvantage against the ever growing and developing competition.

The real world is a difficult terrain to traverse, it is rough and uneasy; at times extremely slippery -- managers are expected to undertake adjustments in strategy with a very clear mind and well-conceived action plan; failure to do so , will most likely crush or dampen future prospects.

The impact a disengaged leader has upon the constituents of an organisation is immense. The voice of opinion gets pulverised and muzzled. The leader remains in obscurity and is not accessible. In such situations the followers suffer the pain and agony of not being heard. The silence of the workforce is a first indication of the onset of corporate decay. The room for review, introspection, re-evaluation and rethinking about stratagem for new initiatives, gets to be closeted in cold storage of inaction. A static organisation will remain in queue for receiving the honours of an indecent corporate funeral.

Many CEO’s rely on the first tier of hierarchy (that is only the direct reports) for feedback. If this is done to the exclusion of other layers down the corporate ladder, it could be perilous. The CEO regrettably would deprive him/herself of the views of the many colleagues, who may have better options, opinions, alternatives, suggestions and recommendations, for better growth and profitability of the institution. Placing entire trust upon the first layer of management is prone to be misled; it can lead to self-deception; in most organisations there always lurking near the corridors of senior management, the naysayers, who in turn will feed the CEO, only that, which has potential to be appreciated and the issues that may be confronting the organisation will remain masked and in limbo of forgotten memories.

Being in ivory towers, is not merely about being aloof or divorced from reality; it is also as much about leadership’s obstinacy, to recognise, accept and give in to the point of view of others, especially who have their ears grounded to the surface of the reality. Our country’s political landscape has recently witnessed this ‘obstinacy factor’ at its full play. If the manager remains rigid and refuses to accept the on- ground situation, the organisation will inevitably suffer its consequences.

From the ivory towers (cabin) of the leadership, all appears good, the grass looks green and lush; the distance from reality presents a rosy picture. From that height and vantage point, everything appears hunky-dory. The stink and dearth lying around the towers remains obscure to the self-blinded leader, who then regales in being the “Emperor in New Clothes”. RIP, is inscribed in gold on the entrance to the ivory towers.

The writer is a senior banker and a freelance columnist