Floodo or What It Means to Lead
I wrote this essay for my leadership class at Fletcher in March 2007 and never thought of it as a eulogy. Mr. Flood was visiting Boston sometime in February 2007 and called me up. I asked him for an interview for my paper. Of course he agreed, and we had a great chat too. As always. To make a long story short, he was one of the best Americans ever. I have a short list of men and women like Floodo who make me fall in love with America over and over again. Boy does my list feel a lot shorter today… Rest in peace, Mr. Flood.
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March 9, 2007
Richard Flood Jr. assumed the post of headmaster at Salisbury School in 1988 and marked a new beginning for the school. To say that Mr. Flood marked a new beginning is not a cliché or an exaggeration. Standing tall and looking hopefully into the future today, twenty years ago the school was $10 million dollars in debt (an astronomical sum for the size of Salisbury) and clearly in need of new leadership. As a former faculty member of Salisbury, I had a privilege to see Mr. Flood’s accomplishments and could not help but ask him what actually made him a leader. Mr. Flood invariably exhibited Daniel Goleman’s six famous leadership styles and five components of emotional intelligence, and the most amazing thing was that Mr. Flood was never aware of them.

Self-awareness. After Mr. Flood graduated from Williams College in 1957, he was offered a teaching position at Westminster School where he also became a college counselor. In those early years in his professional development, he realized that his strength was in school administration, and, without wasting time and effort, he concentrated all his energy at becoming the best school administrator he could possibly be. Once the overall assessment was crystal-clear, Mr. Flood’s weaknesses were easier to identify and address. To the question how he knew about his weaknesses, Mr. Flood replied that he always had one or two trusted colleagues he could always consult, not to mention his wife Mrs. Flood.
One incident seemed to have also added to Mr. Flood’s self-awareness. In his early twenties, he worked at Westminster and found out that one of his friends and colleagues was offered a newly-created position of an Assistant Headmaster. Mr. Flood had no ill feeling toward his colleague, but it was certainly the moment when Mr. Flood realized that he could and would like to try a more challenging leadership role in education.

Self-regulation. As for mistakes, Mr. Flood simply said, “You make them. You learn from them. And you try not to make them again.” During his long career, Mr. Flood certainly made decisions that did not turn out to be effective or popular, but he always came out on top because, in a larger scheme of things, he put his heart and soul into making Nobles and Salisbury a better place. In this light, to err was only human and definitely forgivable.
Motivation. Goleman defined it as having a passion for achievement for its own sake, and Mr. Flood definitely demonstrates a clear upward movement in terms of his responsibilities and a thirst for new challenges. Mr. Flood saw himself as a leader early on, when he was a team captain and fraternity vice president at Williams, and the role had felt natural to him from then on. Not only did it feel natural to him, but people around Mr. Flood accepted his authority naturally as well. “The times were different and easier back then: before the young people began questioning authority in the 60s and 70s,” he said modestly. Yet, it was precisely during and after the turbulent 1960s and 1970s when Mr. Flood became the Dean of the School at Nobles (the second person in charge after Headmaster) and then chosen to lead Salisbury School in 1988. Now at seventy-one, Mr. Flood still cannot stop the motivating force that propelled him to success many years ago. He is still actively involved in the prep-school world and still working hours as long as when he was Headmaster.

Empathy. According to this measuring stick of Daniel Goleman’s emotional intelligence, Mr. Flood succeeded as a leader in general and as a leader in the field of education in particular. Whether making tough or easy decisions, Mr. Flood said, “To judge another man, you have to walk five miles in his shoes.” Hiring or firing faculty, expelling or admitting students, Mr. Flood always tried to examine all issues from other people’s perspectives before making a final decision.
Social skill. Stated rather vaguely in theory, it is the most powerful side of Mr. Flood’s leadership in practice. Four years after he retired, faculty members and administrators still speak of Mr. Flood as though he has been on a sabbatical for a few months. The vision of a stronger school with stronger values still resonates with most of its employees.

How did Mr. Flood actually go about rebuilding and revamping Salisbury School as a leader? What leadership styles did he employ? From the outset, the school was in disarray as far as its morale and finances were concerned. The democratic style of leadership was not getting the school anywhere. Dissonant opinions had paralyzed the decision-making. Mr. Flood abruptly put a stop to bickering and moved the school forward. Asked what the most difficult decision he made in the first week on the job, Mr. Flood replied, “I fired a teacher.” In hindsight, it was not only a long-overdue but also a difficult decision, but it sent a clear message to the rest of the community: there was a decisive commander-in-chief in the house, and “cooperation” was much appreciated. Goleman calls this no-nonsense style coercive. It works best in times of crises, and 1988 was such a time for Salisbury.
As the most acute phase had receded, Mr. Flood, again unbeknownst to him and Goleman’s formal description of leadership styles, gradually adjusted himself to new realities. He slowly switched to an authoritative style steering the school back to its core values and its once healthy financial performance. Valued as the most successful and productive style, Mr. Flood employed it until his retirement. At a later time, Goleman would describe his style as affiliative and pacesetting because Mr. Flood had to build harmony among the employees and also bring school up to a higher standard. How he could lead employees to new accomplishments, Mr. Flood simply said, “By example. I decided to work harder than the hardest-working employee.” This simple logic worked certainly well for Salisbury. When the school again stood firm on its feet, his democratic style allowed Mr. Flood to generate more consensus, new ideas, and participatory relationship among all employees.

Finally, it is his coaching style that has made Mr. Flood known simply as Floodo. Students, faculty, and administrators alike all speak of Mr. Flood’s warm and caring personality. He tries to bring out the best in people. Mr. Flood once had a particularly difficult time with one teacher. The teacher was making the dialogue even harder, but “I was trying to see the best in him and nurture it,” said Mr. Flood in his humble fashion. Mr. Flood’s coaching style has also worked for me. Having watched me teach and grow at Salisbury School, Mr. Flood brought out the best in me as well. I am still growing and thinking of more ways to make my work with young people effective and meaningful, thanks to Mr. Flood’s mentoring.
To say that he is a natural, as opposed to consciously self-made, leader is to say little because Mr. Flood did learn: from other leaders, from his inner voice, and from his own mistakes. He combined his natural aptitude for leadership with a power of observation and quiet reflection to become a better leader. Whether watching his favorite headmaster when he was a student himself or working side by side with Nobles’ Headmaster, Mr. Flood always paid attention to their actions. He is also a humble and quiet leader who says, “There are always new tests to pass.” People tend to follow readily someone who exhibits confident humility, and Mr. Flood exemplifies that type of leadership. After the interview, it was not strange anymore why Mr. Flood was not aware of the theory behind leadership. He was simply leading, just like people breathe and walk. Experts like Daniel Goleman simply explain leadership, but they also help aspiring leaders to emulate leaders like Mr. Flood in a much more systematic and meaningful manner.

