A good leader is able to look beyond what is obvious, be objective about it, and take decisions. Not all decisions are fruitful, but that doesn’t make the leader bad.
RANJITH RAO
“Leaders are dreamers, who don’t just stop at that.
They make those dreams a reality.”
Over the years leadership has been defined in several ways. Good leaders are recognized by the difference they make. Historically, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and the likes of them have been influential in bringing about a revolution of sorts in their fields or purpose. They are known globally for their vision along with grit and perseverance to achieve what they set out to do. Industry leaders like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ratan Tata and others have influenced the way industries operate and have been disruptive in their thoughts and methods. The likes of Hitler and Stalin have been condemned for their notorious intentions and tyrannical methods of leadership. Leaders like Winston Churchill and Eisenhower are admired for their ability to handle adverse situations and provide strategic leadership during crisis. Each of these leaders had very different personalities and unique traits. Leadership in itself is dynamic and subjective. There is no single definition of leadership, and, there is arguably no fixed set of traits or qualities of a good leader. Qualities like decision making, walking the talk, communication, empathy, etc. are more so the bells and whistles. A good leader can have a subset of these qualities and need not necessarily all of them. Then at the core, what is leadership?
A closer look at these great leaders reveals one thing common to all. They broke patterns and stereotypes. Their belief beyond norms in achieving what they did, made all the difference. A typical social environment like an office, home or a community is governed by rules and processes, sometimes unwritten but existing. Routinely, these groups need to be “managed” to derive desired outcomes such as meeting deadlines, getting work done, building or creating something , or just maintaining peace and harmony. And anyone in position of authority who does this efficiently is a good “Manager”. The real challenge however, is when situations are out of the ordinary. Handling crisis, risk management, growth strategies, problem solving, resolving conflicts, making choices (decision making) are some of those situations that are not typical to a routine. That’s when an effective leader steps in. The ability of an individual to steer through these situations, whether familiar or uncertain, overbearing or meek, personal or in the larger interest, defines how good a leader that individual is. Education, experience, and intellect may add to better leadership skills, but they are not inherently what makes someone a better leader. A good leader should be able to look at situations beyond what is obvious, be objective about it and take decisions. Not all decisions are fruitful, but that doesn’t make the leader bad. In all these situations, one common ability of a leader is to think laterally, which means these are situations that require thoughts and cognition well beyond processes and so called “patterns” being followed. If there is a need to resolve a crisis, it is important to take measures by challenging the status quo when needed. Similarly, in a social group or a home environment, a good leader can resolve conflicts, bring in harmony and keep the majority happy and content by managing issues creatively. Planning a vacation, resolving a feud at home, helping friends through tough times, requires individuals to break patterns and bring in aspects probably overlooked before. Unhappy clients, decline in revenues, employee dissatisfaction – all of these require a leader to explore avenues untrodden and break barriers.
And this premise is not in lieu of all other aspects of leadership known to us. But there is a need to factor in lateral thinking and abstraction to be able to use other skills efficiently. As humans, the tendency to find comfort in routine and knowing things are in control makes us happy. Behavioural patterns are formed over years which become muscle memory and we even execute them sub consciously. So, when an unprecedented situation arises, in most cases its difficult for the brain to fathom, and we seek known remedial measures to face them. Good leaders stand out in these situations due to their ability to break patterns and find new ways of handling them. In today’s world, this virtue is taught as risk management, out-of-the box thinking, innovation, crisis management, etc. People are trained to develop a learning mindset and look beyond their education and experience. But in essence, leadership is all about breaking patterns. Essentially the need of the day is to study leadership from a point of view of what can be done differently. While we learn about historic leaders from the context of what difference they made, it will be interesting to understand how did they break patterns from what was existing and what was their thought process. Of course, the toppings of good communication, objectivity, assertiveness, integrity and everything else we learn or have, will always add value.
Go ahead and make that change, be a leader and not just a position or a title.
∎
