Nevertown.com - The Leadership Secrets of Scooby-Doo - Chapter II

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“Like, no way, man!” said Shaggy suddenly. “Like, NO WAY!!! We’re supposed to be on the beach enjoying our vacation and there’s like, no way I’m gonna hang around this spooky haunted castle!”

“Nuh-uh. No way!” agreed Scooby-Doo.

“Come on, guys,” said Velma, “Mister Witherspoon really needs our help! You saw the ghost yourselves just a couple of minutes ago!”

“That’s right,” retorted Shaggy, “and we don’t wanna see it again anytime soon! Come on, Scoob… we’re getting outta here!”

“Oh, Scooby…” sang Daphne, “are you sure you REALLY want to leave? I mean, I’ve got all of these delicious Scooby-Snacks in my purse and nobody to feed them to….”

“Scooby-Snacks! Yeah! Oh yeah!” said the excitable Scooby.

“Will you help us find the ghost for a Scooby Snack, Scooby?” asked Daphne.

“Yeah! Yeah, yeah!”

“Well, gang, looks like we’ve landed smack-dab in the middle of another mystery!” said Fred.

Because She’s Hot

I always start my leadership seminars by asking my participants which member of the Scooby-Doo gang was the leader. Of the five main characters, Daphne Blake is almost always the one that gets the fewest votes. Sometimes she’ll get none at all, but usually she’ll receive one or two votes from young men (often the ones who chose seats in the back of the room). I always ask them to stand up and tell the group why they voted for Daphne, and their answer usually goes something like this:

“Ladies and gentlemen. Distinguished friends. Honorable presenter. I have been asked to tell you why I voted for Daphne as leader of Mystery, Inc. So I now stand up to tell you exactly why. It’s a very good reason, and I stand by it. That reason is: she’s hot.”

Well, yes, now that you mention it, she is. But is that enough to make her a leader?

Before you give the obvious ‘no’ reply, let’s think about that for a second. What does a leader look like? Clear your mind and picture in your head the ideal leader. Don’t try to focus on a particular person; just think of the first picture that pops in your head when you think of the word, “leader.” Most people will imagine a man, and some will imagine a woman… but no matter which gender you picture, odds are very good that the figure you imagine is physically attractive.

Now why would that be? Surely we can all admit that good looks are not a requirement for good leadership skills. And yet, we always tend to think of a stereotypical leader as having ideal features. Clear your mind again and think of the opposite: think of the ugliest human you can imagine. Would you feel comfortable having that person as your supervisor? If you were in the military, would you follow that person to war? Would you put your life in his hands? Hopefully you would judge your commanding officer by something other than their appearance, but be honest with yourself. There might be a bit of uncertainty remaining in you regardless of what logic and reason said. Perhaps you would think, “This isn’t what a leader’s supposed to look like, is it?”

Our obsession with physical attractiveness can often lead us to make silly decisions, both in our personal lives and our professional careers. How many people do you know who begin doomed relationships with completely incompatible partners based primarily on appearance? Lots, you say? Right, me too. How many times do you think potential leaders of the corporate world are passed over for promotions because they don’t have quite the beauty or charisma that some of their coworkers have? Because I personally have seen this happen many times, I’d believe that person attractiveness is a large decision factor quite often.

So although a person doesn’t have to be great looking to be a leader, subconsciously most people tend to think they do. Let’s take that theory a step further. Does a leader have to meet a minimum qualification in terms of appearance? Do they have to look at least passing, or do they have to dress at least somewhat professionally? What about the Dress-For-Success rule, that states, “If you want to get to the top, you’ve got to dress like you’re already there”?

The answer to that question, according to most Expert Opinions, is undoubtedly yes. The conventional wisdom holds that it’s impossible to aspire to leadership, it’s impossible to truly motivate and direct your team, unless you carry yourself with some semblance of attractiveness and professionalism. There’s a very strong theory that says people won’t respect a supervisor who doesn’t look businesslike and admirable, and if people don’t respect that supervisor, they won’t easily or excitedly follow his lead. It’s a good theory, and it seems to make a lot of sense, right?

However, being more of an application learner than a theory follower, I for one find issue with it. Let’s pretend for a second (and this is going to be a stretch, I warn you) that Fred got kidnapped by a ghost and Daphne miraculously was left untouched. The gang reconvened, and they had to go look for Fred. If both Daphne and Velma each had a plan to rescue Fred, all things being equal, which of the two plans do you think Scooby and Shaggy would more likely agree to?

Well, yes, obviously those two would choose whichever plan involved food. For the sake of argument, let’s suppose neither plan had any eating opportunities. What then?

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo would likely side with Velma out of respect for her experience and planning skills. Admittedly, there might be a slight subconscious desire to side with the beautiful Daphne to, perhaps, “look cool.” Maybe they’d want to gain the good favor of the woman who holds the Scooby Snacks. As long as reason won out, though, with all other things being equal, the relatively shabby and dumpy Velma would be chosen over the glamorous Daphne to take the lead.

The point here is that leadership is dependent on the respect of the leader's teammates, and through that respect, the authority that a leader gains. Let me repeat that: leadership is dependent on the respect of teammates. If your teammates don’t have respect for you, your judgement, and your abilities, there’s no way they will ever bring themselves to follow you one hundred percent. Through real respect, you gain real authority over the members of your team. By “real” authority, I don’t mean the kind of authority that says, “You’ll do as I say because I’m your boss.” I mean the kind of authority where followers genuinely look up to their leader, the kind where they place their faith in one person to guide them because they believe in you.

While appearance can certainly be a factor in gaining respect (and it absolutely is a factor in making a good first impression), it is nowhere near as large a leadership factor as things like knowledge and experience. I personally was unlucky enough once to have one of those wonderful jobs where I had to report to three different supervisors, all at the same time. Of those three, two were always dressed to kill, sharp and professional, while the third was rather plain-looking and not exactly physically attractive. There was a lot of talk in the break room about that third manager, about how he never dressed “properly” and how he wouldn’t get far in life if he didn’t shape up. However, whenever I had a question or needed help with my assigned duties, I always found myself approaching that third supervisor. I didn’t even do it consciously; I just naturally gravitated toward the leader I respected the most, and physical appearance had nothing to do with it. If I remember correctly, that third manager was the first of the three to be promoted, too. Surprise, surprise.

Let me make absolutely clear here that I'm not a proponent of throwing the “Dress-For-Success” rule out the window. Yes, professionalism is important. Yes, we should take pride in our appearance and try to look our best. And yes, of course “dressing up” does help you significantly in the real world in terms of gaining respect. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll be promoted much more easily if you maintain a professional appearance. But I very firmly do not believe that looking great is a requirement to be a great leader. Usually considered the greatest president that the United States ever knew, Abraham Lincoln was far from the most attractive man in the country. Tall and lanky, he once said, “If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?” Could you honestly say that his appearance made him a poorer leader?

To wrap this discussion up, I want to reiterate that yes, looking your best is important. But don’t think that only attractive people can be leaders, nor that plainer people cannot be leaders. You’ll miss some real diamonds in the rough with that mindset. Some of the best leaders I’ve ever had the privilege to meet were far from being supermodels. As good old Honest Abe once said, "Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."

Unexpected Girl Power

As I mentioned earlier, it’s very rare to hear from somebody who honestly believes that Daphne was the leader of Mystery, Inc. When somebody votes for her, it’s almost always somebody looking to have a bit of fun. The one exception to this rule came several years ago at a workshop session in which the audience was almost completely made up of women. With this demographic, I was quite surprised when one lone person raised her hand after I asked if anybody thought Daphne was the leader. I was even more surprised when I saw that Daphne’s supporter was a serious and mature young woman, and it didn’t look like she was kidding. I can admit it: I was baffled. Thus far in my career only younger men had ever picked Daphne as leader, and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked the young woman if she could stand up and tell the group why she picked Daphne… and boy, did she ever tell us.

I may paraphrase a bit here, but this is generally what she said. To get the full effect of this speech, read it out loud, very quickly, in an indignant tone of voice.

“You bet I picked Daphne as the leader! It’s obvious! How can I be surrounded by all of these smart people and be the only who picked Daphne?!? What, you think Fred was the leader? HA! You think Fred was the leader? Let me tell you something, boys and girls, I think we all know that in this world, behind every man is a good woman. You think Fred was the leader? That’s because that’s what Daphne wanted you to think. She didn’t have to stand up and make stupid suggestions… she had Fred to do that for her! It’s obvious she had him wrapped around her little finger, and whatever she wanted, she got! Now, who does that make the leader? Ladies, let me tell you something… if you believe in the power of a woman, and you believe in the rights of a woman, and you believe in the leadership qualities of a woman, you will change your vote to Daphne, as I did, and stand up for your gender… the ones who really run things behind the scenes!”

The young woman’s emotional speech was met with a standing ovation by all of the women in the room, who immediately demanded a new vote on the leader of Mystery, Inc. I obliged them (being a man, I was outnumbered and just a bit intimidated), and the new totals showed Daphne far in the lead with over 80% of the vote. Every single woman in the room had voted for Miss Blake, and some of the men had as well (out of logic or fear, I can’t say).

While that initial surge of female patriotism was undoubtedly meant in (at least partially) good fun, though, the more I think about it, the more it really does make sense. Remember that when the original Scooby-Doo cartoon first aired, we didn’t live in quite as politically correct a society as we do now. Strong female characters were very rare in Saturday morning cartoons, with damsels-in-distress being more the norm. Velma, of course, was different; as the smarter and less attractive of the two ladies, she was expected to act as she did a bit more. But Daphne was beautiful, rich, and constantly kidnappable. She couldn’t possibly have been a team leader in that time’s Saturday morning environment… unless, of course, she did it subtly.

Some people may read that last sentence and scoff, “Subtly? Ridiculous! The leader is the one who stands in the forefront, who leads the charge! You know when a real leader’s around!”

And so it seems we need to debunk another leadership myth. If I may refer you back to the last chapter, let’s look one more time at the definition of a leader: leaders bring a team together through motivation and inspiration to accomplish the group’s goals. Note that nowhere in that definition does it say that leaders must walk in front, or overtly command, or make it known that they are in fact the leader. That’s generally the way we expect it to happen, because that’s the way we usually see it on television and in the movies. Realistically, though, that’s not necessarily the way it has to be.

Let me give you an example: I was once working on a project in which the assigned supervisor had received his position through considerable political connections. This gentleman had no management experience, and his skill-set was not at all relevant to the task faced by my group. He enjoyed a considerable salary, and his usual motivational words to the staff in trying times were, “Well, you know better than I do what needs to be done. Go do it. I’ll be in my office.” Our team received absolutely no real management from our supposed supervisor, and he contributed literally nothing to our work, our plans, or our discussions.

In the absence of a standard “official” leader, though, another type of leader arose. One of my coworkers, an older woman with a great deal of experience, started to subtly take over. When one of us was unsure about our goals, she would take us aside and remind us what they were. When one of us had a question, she quietly made sure that we found the answer we needed. Whenever the boss through his managerial ineptitude managed to convince one of us that it was time to just call it quits, she’d talk to that person privately, and somehow motivate them to work harder than ever.

In the end, our group did accomplish and exceed our goals; not because of the management of our assigned supervisor, but in my opinion because of the efforts of this one woman. She received only as much credit as the rest of us got; the lion’s share of the praise went to our feckless supervisor. Yet, I argue that the fact that she was cheated out of the credit she deserved makes her no less a true leader. She wasn’t a group spokesman or a boss, and she wasn’t even particularly talkative; she just worked with the rest of us and made it possible for the job to be done. If you meet someone who can and does accomplish all of that without even a hope of receiving praise and promotions for it, then you’ve met the best kind of leader. And if you have a chance to hire or promote that person, you should certainly do so.

Which brings us back to Daphne. Sure, she wasn’t always acting as group spokesman or pulling masks off of villains or explaining nefarious plots. But that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have been the leader. It was Fred who most often seemed to be the leader, yes, but consider: because they spent all of their time together, nobody knew Fred better than Daphne did. Maybe, just maybe, Daphne was a lot smarter than she let on. And maybe she didn’t think Fred was quite bright enough or talented enough to lead the group effectively. Or maybe she simply believed that the easiest way to control the group would be by using Fred. If any of those are true, maybe Daphne used her considerable influence with Fred to guide him in his managerial activities.

Don’t jump to the conclusion that I’m insulting Fred in the above paragraph; I’m simply stating a theory. We’ve assumed that Daphne and Fred always paired off together, danced together, and sat next to each other because they were a romantic couple. But what if that was really Daphne’s way of getting Fred to do what she wanted? It is certainly possible, and it would even explain a few things that don’t make all that much sense. Some people may say that the very idea is ridiculous; that nobody could ever be manipulated so completely by a member of the opposite gender. If you feel that way, I suggest to you that marriage will be a surprising experience.

Sometimes the last person you’d expect to be a leader is one. Sometimes leaders can lead quite effectively from the background. Sometimes, because of a lack of true leadership from the assigned supervisor, that’s the only way true leadership can take place. This is because real leadership isn’t about titles or status or visibility; it’s about getting the job done, and not honestly caring who gets the credit. We’ll go into more detail on this when we discuss Velma’s similar leadership style.

Daphne Blake – The Great Motivator

All of that leads rather nicely into a discussion of how Daphne got things done, which just happens to be the same way all leaders get things done.

When you were in school, you probably fell into one of two types of students: you either actively tried to get good grades, or you didn’t bother because you just didn’t care. The question to ask here is, “Why?” Why will some people care enough to try to excel in their schoolwork, while some believe there are more important things to devote time to? Obviously, it’s a question of motivation. The first group of students obviously has some reason to shoot for good grades. Perhaps they are rewarded by their parents for scholastic achievement, or maybe they’re competitive enough to want to be at the top of their class, or maybe they simply enjoy learning. Whatever the reason, this group of students studies not necessarily because they want to see an “A” at the top of their graded test; the high grade is just a means to an end. What they really want is knowledge, or competitive bragging rights, or a reward from their family. If a student doesn’t care what grade they see at the top of their page, that means they have no motivation. The competitive aspect doesn’t interest them, the learning of the subject bores them, and they receive inadequate rewards for success. Thus they have no reason to even try.

On the same note, why do most adults have a job? Why do they go to work on a daily basis, when the majority of workers do not enjoy their jobs? Ask yourself this: if you had a choice on Monday between going to work or engaging in your favorite recreational activity, which would you pick? Surprise! You already did pick, last Monday, just as you make that decision every single workday. Unless you happen to be on a vacation as you read this, I’m going to guess that you most likely chose work. While you’d certainly want to say that you’d skip work and have some fun, you rarely, if ever, actually do it because there’s something at work that motivates you to attend. For many of us, the promise of and need for a regular paycheck is enough to make us pass on other more enjoyable activities and head to work. For others, the possibility of a promotion, a raise, or more favorable working conditions keeps us at our jobs regularly, often past the normal quitting time. Although we don’t necessarily want to go to work, we go anyway because there’s some reward attached that we want or need.

So goes leadership. In order to get a team to accomplish an agreed-upon goal, each and every member of that team has to have some motivation, some reason, to go along with the plan. While the mere statement, “It’s your job,” might seem to some managers to be reason enough for team members to work toward the goal, the true leader knows that real motivation is going to require something more. People are always more motivated to work for a tangible reward than they are if they’re only offered a maintaining of the status quo. That’s important enough to repeat: people are always more motivated to work for a tangible reward than they are for the status quo.

Of all the members of Mystery, Inc., Daphne Blake understood this concept the best. Hardly an episode of the cartoon went by without Scooby, Shaggy, or both deciding that they’d had it, that this ghost-hunting stuff was for the birds, that they were leaving. The fact was, while the thrill of catching a ghost was adequate to motivate Daphne, Fred, and Velma, Shaggy and Scooby weren’t interested in that thrill at all. Instead, the two of them were motivated by food, safety, and friendship. Because a trip to a haunted house meant no safety, little food, and the very real chance that your friends would be kidnapped, Scooby and Shaggy were understandably uninterested.

Daphne realized all of this, and she knew her teammates well. Armed with this knowledge, every time Scooby and Shaggy tried to exhibit their cowardice she would reach into her purse and pull out the one thing that would motivate them more than safety: food. More specifically, she would use Scooby’s favorite food, a treat called a Scooby-Snack. It was a motivational trick that never failed with the dog or his gangly owner. Their need for food outweighed their need for safety, and thus Daphne was able to coerce, yes, to manipulate them into working toward the team’s goals.

One of the most important things for a leader to do is to understand what motivates your team. Once you understand what they want, you know how you can inspire them. In a recent job I held, my manager constantly dangled the promise of a promotion over my head. He attempted to motivate me with that promise in the hopes that he would get more productivity and office-time out of me. Ultimately, his attempt failed because he didn’t understand that I wasn’t interested in a promotion at all. A promotion would have meant moving across the state and spending less time with my wife, neither of which was palatable for me. Perhaps he himself wanted a promotion, and thus assumed that all of his employees must want one as well. Many managers make the mistake of assuming they know what their employees want, when it would be much simpler and more accurate to merely ask. It’s as simple as saying, “Jim, what are you looking for in the short-term out of this job?” But most managers never do.

I’m reminded of a story I once heard about a programmer who was given two weeks to write an amazingly complicated bit of software for his firm. He finished the program in just one week, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. His manager, who was on vacation in Hawaii at the time, wanted to reward the programmer when he heard about the amazing success. Influenced by his surroundings, the manager almost immediately approved a company-paid vacation to Hawaii, and sent a message asking the programmer to join him on the beach as quickly as possible. The programmer, upon receiving the message, mistook the invitation for a managerial directive. He packed his bags for Hawaii, and when he arrived he asked his manager why he was there. After the manager told him that this was his reward for his outstanding work, the programmer gaped in amazement for some time before heading back to his hotel room. The next week he quit the company and went to work for one of their competitors.

As it turned out, the programmer had been to Hawaii several times already and had hated it. He was having family problems at the time as well, and he didn’t appreciate being pulled away from his kin for an unwanted vacation. To make things even worse, he was violently allergic to many of the flowers native to Hawaii. He had an absolutely miserable time while his manager thought he would be enjoying his “reward.” The company lost one of its best programmers and the manager lost one of his strongest assets… all because said manager never took the time to find out what really motivated his employees.

The only person in Mystery, Inc., who never seemed to need external motivation was Velma. Even the usually gung-ho Fred needed a bit of motivation now and again. And Daphne, more than likely, was just the girl to provide it. Some managers might assume that what works for one member of the team will work for all of them, and by that logic, Daphne could have offered Fred a Scooby-Snack. After all, if it works for Shaggy and Scooby, why wouldn’t it work for their teammates?

But Daphne understood that although they had similar vocations, Fred and Shaggy were looking for two entirely different things in the group’s adventures. Where Shaggy was interested in food, Fred was interested in… well… did you ever notice that the group split up every episode? And when they did, the teams seemed to be a bit contrived? Almost invariably, Fred would say something like this:

“Shag, you take Scooby and go search the Haunted Graveyard. Velma, take this flashlight and look around in that torture chamber we found downstairs, see if you can find any clues. Meanwhile, Daph and I will search upstairs in the guest bedroom.”

Think back to those original episodes now. If you’re like me, you remember seeing Velma exploring the torture chamber, and you remember the hijinx as Shaggy and Scooby encountered the ghost in the Haunted Graveyard. But do you ever remember seeing what was going on with Fred and Daphne? No, of course you didn’t. After all, this was a children’s show.

Daphne Blake, the last person most people think of as the leader of the group, was a real expert at resourcing and motivating. She knew what it took to keep her teammates’ spirits up, and she was always ready to provide what they needed. If a leader can do what Daphne did, then that leader has come a long way toward building a solid and effective team… because the team members will personally and genuinely want to accomplish your goals.

The Unsolved Mystery

There is one unanswered question in this discussion of motivation, and that is this: What was it that motivated Daphne herself? Fred got the lion’s share of the credit (and he got Daphne), so that may have been his motivation. Velma loved the mystery itself, while Shaggy and Scooby participated for friendship and food. Why was Daphne involved in all of these mysteries? For that matter, why was she a part of Mystery, Inc., in the first place? Let’s face it: the members of this group were a dog, three relative goofballs, and a gorgeous redhead. One might argue that Fred wasn’t a goofball; I would debate that point by pointing out that darling little red scarf, and asking the honest question of whether you could ever picture Fred at something like a football game. No? Me, neither. So why, then, did Daphne fit in with this crowd? Wouldn’t you think she’d be more likely to be on the cheerleading squad or dance team than running around solving mysteries?

Daphne was without a doubt the one member of the group that was most unique (if you except the fact that Scooby was a talking dog, of course). Sure, it’s possible that she may have tagged along with this group to get close to Fred, or maybe she did it to share in the credit when the gang successfully solved a case. While those are decent theories, I can’t help but remember one impassioned speech I heard years ago from a young woman, suggesting that Daphne led subtly. Maybe she was smarter than she let on. Maybe she chose to be as quiet as she was. Maybe she really did have Fred wrapped around her little finger. There’s a great deal of evidence for this theory, and it leads me to wonder if maybe it wasn’t Daphne who originally brought the group together. After all, although most people think the Mystery Machine belonged to Fred (because he was always driving it), Scooby lore states that the van was actually owned by Daphne.

Who of the group seemed to understand Scooby and Shaggy best? Judging by her success at motivating them, I’d say it was Daphne. Based on that, who would be most likely to convince the two of them to join a group called “Mystery, Inc.” in the first place? Between her motivation through food and good looks, Daphne is definitely the answer to that one. Thanks to Velma’s love of mystery and Fred’s fascination with Daphne, convincing either of them to join couldn’t have been too difficult. The more I think about it, the more likely I think it is that young Miss Blake was the one who originally brought the group together.

Which isn’t to say that the person who assembles a team is automatically the group’s leader; no, she isn’t. However, if Daphne was capable of a feat like that, who knows how much more she was working on behind the scenes? And if you view some of the gang’s later adventures, there’s more evidence of Daphne’s strong management skills. The live-action Scooby-Doo movie showed us a Daphne who was a valuable contributor to the group, one who acknowledged and overcame her weaknesses. In the animated “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island,” it was Daphne who strongly took the lead; as a matter of fact, she was Fred’s boss!

Of the five characters on the show, Daphne Blake remains the biggest enigma (again, excepting the obvious question of how a dog can talk). Because she was so quiet, we know very little about her. Or maybe, just maybe, because she was so quiet we can infer what she was really up to behind the scenes. If that theory is true, as it may well be, then Daphne is truly an outstanding leader who proved that you don’t always have to walk in front or give orders to help your team accomplish its goals. All it takes is the right motivation.

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