LEADERSHIP By F l o g g i n g !

A Leader is expected to lead, guide and direct a group. He is expected to be wiser than the team he leads, though he may not necessarily have greater expertise related to the task the team is expected to deliver.  Wisdom alone will not suffice though; he will need to influence the team towards following his directions. To influence, having a clout with the team he leads helps. He can then sway the team's decisions and directions in the way he thinks would lead to success for the team. Where persuasion fails, he may also use his authority and command that his instructions be followed. This looks like a rosy path, where the Leader always knows which way to head. But that's not how life is.

There are umpteen occasions when not just the team but the Leader too is clueless. Such situations also bring out the best from a True Leader. He strives to gain knowledge that will enable the team to succeed. He facilitates opportunities for the team to gain necessary knowledge and build required skills. And when the task fails for some reason - be it lack of knowledge, paucity of skills or poor execution - he considers himself to be part of the team that failed to deliver. He holds himself responsible together with his team, for the failure. This too, is great Leadership.

But today, a new breed of Leaders seem to have brought a new style of Leadership. Wisdom, Clout, Persuasion, Facilitation, Accountability, all seem to take a backseat here. Only authoritativeness counts. I call this 'Leadership by Flogging'. This style is built on the belief that if you flog hard enough, you can make even a dead horse fly. When the way forward is not clear, the Leader hopes that fear will work magic and ignite a spark in someone in the team.

The worst casualty is 'co-operation'. Instead of team members complementing each other for the collective good, they compete with each other for the spoils. When the team then wins, the Leader takes all the credit for leading from the front. He does share some of the spoils with the magician in the team, after taking a lion's share. And when the team fails, the Leader becomes the first to crucify the team, now becoming part of the Senior Management calling the team to give account.

The Bad News is that the latter style seems to be gaining currency, as it is seemingly reaping greater dividends for the ruler, Sorry! . . .  Leader. Gone is the common good or the greater good.

What is your Leadership Style?

Want to scale the Pyramid ?

Everyone is sure to have first-hand experience with the disappointment from being denied a much-expected and awaited promotion -- either venting this frustration at anyone who is empathetic enough to give a listening ear or as a colleague, friend or supervisor of someone else who is complaining out loud.

I am sure I myself have complained on more than one occasion but I got enlightenment particularly when I was at the receiving end (not of disappointment, but) of complaints from associates. One often thinks that he has not been promoted because there was not sufficient room at the top . . . because supply has exceeded demand. One points to the pyramid structure of any organization as proof. But this is far from truth. Truth is that one is denied promotion when one does not show enough promise either by way of demonstrated skills or potential waiting to be tapped. In other words, promotion is denied when one is not considered ready for the challenges above. The pyramid structure that organizations fill is often never a constraint. In reality, supply is far less than the demand. There are very few people qualified at any level for an elevation to the next higher level. Since this is the case, organizations often look for just the closest qualifier rather than the ideal candidate from among the ranks, for saddling with greater responsibilities. The next time, you feel like complaining yourself, or meet someone who is complaining, apply this test: Is supply really more than demand as it appears on the surface or is it the other way around? In a pyramid organization, in terms of sheer number, people at any level always far outnumber the available positions at the level immediately above. But the irony is that while one thinks all of them are candidates for promotion to the limited positions above, in reality anyone seldom qualifies automatically for promotion in terms of quality of their material. The result is that the person who is most focussed and successful at all-round self-development is best placed to move up.

This is something that hit me time and again in the last several years that I have been managing teams. But a couple of years ago, another truth hit me. This came from a top HR professional in a leading Indian software services company, and it came as a vindication of the truth that I used to advance especially to those in my teams with a grievance of having been overlooked for promotion. It applied the observation right at the bottom of the pyramid. (Let me not test your patience too long; this is it.) Of the thousands coming out of professional courses with (not so) flying colors, the majority are UNEMPLOYABLE. I am sure, fresh graduates who did not fare well in campus recruitments and who are then running from pillar to post, looking out for a job are complaining of supply exceeding demand. The reality here too is that in sheer number they do, but not in terms of quality material.

Time we started focusing on what it takes to grow up (rather than assuming that years and being occupied with something will automatically do wonders)!

Do you make a difference ?

A Software professional may not have a mission like a doctor or a country's leader. So what can inspire him to do his best?

You may feel like just a cog in a machinery. How can you feel valued and driven to excellence? You still can, if your colleagues can look to you and say "You made a difference" . . . if you can identify your legacy -- the difference or added value that should result from your tenure in a team. To leave a team no better than when you came in, does not count as success. It will be natural for you one day to look back in hindsight and say to yourself "I made a difference there in these specific ways . . ." Or, to put it slightly differently, "Had I not been there such-and-such would not have happened."

Actually, it doesn't matter too much if others recognize that difference, still less that it is acknowledged in public. Often you are the only person who knows the full story. What stays with you forever is the knowledge of how you did make a difference. It may or may not have led on to other things - who can follow all the threads of destiny? - but YOU played your part effectively and creatively.

Do you see yourself as part of the head-count, that is available as means at the Organization's disposal, to achieve strategic ends. You could have been misled by the phrase 'Human Resource' - now used as a substitute for the older (military) term personnel - that appears to classify people as if they were economic resources, along with finance, machinery and energy. Will you unlock the inner or hidden reserve of energy, life or sprit that lies within you that is really described by the phrase 'Human Resource'? Resource really indicates a new source of supply or support, one that may be hidden from view. Let each crisis and opportunity that come your way unlock the spirit that lies within you, and lead you to make a difference.

( Inspired by 'Effective Strategic Leadership - John Adair' )