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Trim Tab Theory

Every time I have spoken to a group of people about leadership and organizational change, I am told by someone in the group that the most important people who should be here are not in the room.  This is a telling statement; people often feel that bosses in positions of power who really need to change are not interested in learning and are not there. I think that this is a defeatist attitude; it actively disempowers you.

The premise of being a trim tab is acknowledging the power of a single person’s mindset. All change starts from within – not from someone else’s within. Leadership is a choice – not a position; this choice is expected to transform the followers; however, this transformation is not an accident.  A personal commitment to your cause with moral authority starts influencing people around you regardless of your position in the organization. This influence causes a cascade of transformational events that change the direction of the entire organization. This is akin to a trim tab in a large aircraft or ship as described by Buckminster Fuller, who served in the U.S. Navy during WWI. Trim tab is a small miniature rudder mechanism that stabilizes the main rudder, which subsequently maintains the direction of an enormous ship or aircraft. Fuller called himself a trim tab and decided to dedicate his life to determining what a single individual could achieve despite the odds of forces against him. Most importantly, a trim tab moves directly into the (water or air) currents that oppose it. The more powerful, the opposition, adversity, and resistance forces are, stronger is the available force to harness the energy and redirect towards achieving the goal.

Purposefully adopting the position of a trim tab in an organization empowers you to harness all the negative energy you perceive from people who are not in the room, to redirect the rudder in the right direction. You can choose to be a (trim tab) leader!