Some leadership rudiments...

Leadership and leadership development is the hot and extensively discussed topic. There are different theories on leadership. People learn these theories during Leadership Workshops and training programmes and try to implement in their day to day life. I have also written a lot on leadership on this blog. Sometimes leaders are recognized when they are successful. The common phenomenon of recognition is “success is after all success.”

Most of the HR professionals, CEOs, trainers and so called coaches claim their initiatives on leadership development. Every organizations focuses on leadership however fundamental question on leadership still remains valid, “Are leaders born or made?”

 

“Leadership inputs” to be effective professional will always help, however it is continuous process and no single theory is effective. Leaders are expected to act as per the situation. However most of the time it is as per the perception of team members. If you speak with the team they have the perception that they are doing their job and due to their job the organization is running.  There is even a growing voice to the idea of organizations without leader with cross-functional steering committee. However the fact is people want to be lead. Here we need to view the leadership differently and should ask some fundamental questions. It is like back to basics.

How to view the leadership differently?

The leader needs to ask the question himself about his different orientation about the leadership skills.

Am I natural? The beahviour of the leader should be natural and honest. If you come from the leadership workshop or coaching session and learned few good tools, philosophies of leadership. If you want to practice those tools, the behaviour here should be natural.  People should perceive your behaviour as a natural outcome.  I have seen the managers who always perceived as phony because their output was not honest and natural. Your body language, gesture, eyes should complement with what you are talking.

Do I see the future? Leaders are expected to be visionaries and they should be. If you focus only tomorrow and not day after tomorrow, you are focusing only on tasks. A vision comes when you have the strategic thinking. The business leaders come from some functional areas and most of the times from sales function. Their focus remains on ASR, sales target, sales revenue and tactical issues. This is valid for other functional leaders as well.

Am I trapped in organization chart? Once the person is hired to lead the specific role, function or the business, he starts preparing and putting organization structure in place. This structure is moreover like “command and control” type of structure. First he hires personal secretary, then executive assistant and then other managers to support him. Sometimes he focuses on replacing existing one with new and conformable one. Here he restricts his direct influence on the people. Once the structure is build; he does not go beyond the organization structure. The question is how to build the passionate, skilled and committed team and not mere the organization structure.    

Once you are clear what you want from you, then it is very easy to brand you as a leader…