Leadership has many facets. In fact it can be construed as a
process chain, with interlinked stages.
Many years ago (much before the popularity of the transformational leadership theory) I wrote an article, when globalisation was just taking its shape in this country and the Scorpio Mahindra had scarcely been launched, perhaps it was 2002. This is just a reproduce of that article, which was published in Training & Management then. I realised that the article did not have a soft copy and also social networking on the internet was not so popular as it is today and therefore the reach of that article must have been limited. Here it is for all to read.
Perceptions may differ, but if one views any process,
whether it be as complicated as the life cycle of any being or maybe as simple
as having your bath or eating
your food, one would observe that every process
is a chain of smaller activities or stages. Leadership is a concept, which is a vital factor
for the success of any community, nation or
group. I have always viewed leadership as a process, more so in the recent times. When
the success of leadership is more dependent on the changing times and the
cultural diversities, how can we standardise to perfection the static characteristics of leadership?
If we agree to this
argument, that the characteristics need to be modified periodically, you have to actually initiate a
process! The figure displayed shows the stages that are linked, to form the process of leadership.
The process of leadership – a chain
Let us examine each stage of this chain or cycle. (Please observe that
the first alphabet of every stage, if lined up together would give you the word L E A D E R S H I
P)
*Learn:
A few years ago while I was conducting a training session I
was informed by one of the participants that a facilitator that he had met in
the recent past was titling himself as a 'learner'. I was not surprised at all because I
was convinced that one who was facilitating a learning process first has to be a learner himself.
Likewise, a leader who has to educate
his team consistently has to be
a keen learner himself! Where-from, otherwise, would he be able to add to the knowledge and skills of his team members, who are
constantly looking forward to him
for 'his guidance and value addition? Believe me, no team member enjoys stale information anymore. Useful
information keeps the group charged, besides helping to
introspect for upgrading competencies and remaining contemporary!
* Evaluate:
The
other day I was ushered into an on-going product sales training programme by a
friend of mine, without my being aware of what I was heading for. The products
did not lure me but the style of the trainer definitely did! She was emphatic
about TEAM - Together, Everyone, Achieving, More! All that registered and
perhaps evens a little more, that I could probably include in my sessions, but
nothing much about the product and its sales, which was the objective of the
trainer. As a leader also, one would have to sift through the
information - flow and evaluate as to
what was relevant and what was not, what could be given shape to and what could not
be. Every piece of information and learning may not be contextual. The leader
should be adept in such an analysis.
*Assimilate:
The
evaluated information not only has to be registered, but the leader
needs to plan and strategise as to how best he could utilise the information
available. Although 'Project - Scorpio' was nearing completion Anand Mahindra, the leader of the Project Team in
M&M decided to hold
back the launch of the product for 2 more years.
Information was available that the BPR exercises carried out
in the organisation were yielding stunningly positive results. Anand Mahindra
had to take a choice as
a leader. He took a decision that the results be incorporated in the
manufacturing lines planned for Scorpio and hence launched an intermediary
model only - Bolero.
*Demonstrate
Whether they had acquired international or national fame and status,
all leaders including corporate leaders, had missions to fulfil and each such achievement of a mission was
exemplified by their actual demonstrating to their followers, their own
learning and how they thought they could put it to use. Each leader, be it
Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, JRD or Ambani - one observes that every
one of them spared not a single opportunity to put into practice in their own
lives whatever they preached - because they wanted to demonstrate. At times
they paid the price for it! But they did not stop demonstrating themselves. How
would otherwise the team be convinced of the ways adopted? NR Narayana Murthy
emphasises in all his inter
views
and his addresses that one has to lead by example. '
*Empathise:
The dictionary meaning reveals a very simplistic
interpretation - 'to be able to understand someone else's feelings, because one
has undergone similar experiences' 0 Actually, in management, the word
'empathise' has been borrowed from the scientific studies and their application
in the field of Social Work. Social Work depends heavily on counselling - both
individual and group. Individual counselling is referred to as Casework and
group counselling as Groupwork. In both forms of counselling, empathy becomes
an important tool towards developing rapport. You are actually bringing
yourself at par with the thought process and the frame of mind and the
perception of the one you are counselling, without getting emotionally
involved.
Every leader has to empathise with his followers to have a
strong and intense following. The leader needs to be trusted by the team to
deliver - empathising helps to achieve that trust, which needs to be rejuvenated
from time to time
*Recognise:
Let's
look at the traditional gurushishya parampara. Recognition was the path
to motivation. Arjuna was recognised as the most accomplished disciple of
Dronacharya. Eklavya cut off his thumb to achieve a similar recognition, which
motivated him further to shoot more accurately despite the absence of his
thumb. Ramakrishna Pararnhansa recognised Narendra Dutta - more commonly known
as Swami Vivekananda - who volunteered to carry the message of the Vedanta,
round the world. Dr. Parvinder Singh, former Chairman and Managing Director and
the builder of Ranbaxy's corporate empire, had recognised and named D.S. Brar,
the then Head of Marketing, as his successor. Recognition is something that has
to be inevitably provided to the team members by the leader, based on the
performance of the team members, failing which the latter would not have
anything to look forward to. We keep taking of motivation as an essential
ingredient of leadership and team building. We ought to be more conscious about
this consistent need for motivation through recognition in the ‘process of
leadership’.
*Sharpen:
The
need to chisel and sharpen the knowledge and skills that a leader assimilates
and also to encourage and ascertain that his team members do the same is
inescapable. Here is where the leader plays the role of an effective trainer
and facilitator. Did not Mahatma Gandhi train and facilitate in his own
charismatic manner the group of statemen who took over the reigns of
independent India after it attained its freedom? Did not JRD train his
successor Ratan Tata to deftly handle the corporate group companies of the
Tata’s? In today’s changing scenario, NR Narayana Murthy states in an
interview, “…core competencies…. Our people’s ability to learn a new paradigm
of technology, to deploy it and provide benefit in terms of the quality and
productivity of our people.” The point that needs to be driven home here is the
ability to deploy. This is what adds to sharpening of knowledge and skills –
both of the leader and his team members.
*Heighten:
the
competencies need to be constantly upgraded to attain those ‘heights’, where
your competitor would not find an easy way to reach and you and your team,
continue to achieve the unsurpassable ‘competitive advantage’ Dr. Deepak
Chopra, the former chief of Staff of the Boston Regional Medical Centre, the
noted author of many a book on health and a prominent speaker on leadership and
entrepreneurship, was once asked as to what made him tick. He replied, “I think
the main thing is that I really enjoy myself and I have a passion for what I
do. There’s always something new round the corner for me every time I open my
eyes. “whether they be the team members or the leader himself, they have to be
geared to cope with change by ‘upgrading’ themselves and taking their
competencies to those heights, from where competition is left far behind.
Notwithstanding the success stories of General Electric, Sony, Shell which have
their roots elsewhere in the world, Reliance, Infosys, Sahara of your country
also have stories to tell about how they have left behind competition (for a
while maybe!) by heightening their competencies with an effective leadership
process.
*Innovate:
Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation, when invited by AIMA to
deliver his address on ‘leadership’, on his receiving India’s most covered
award – Businessman of the Year of Business India – states 2 points as
characteristic of a good leader which were different from the usual
explanations. A good leader is one who can among his team members, ignite
imagination’ and generate excitement’. How would one do these if there were no
challenges round the corner for the team members? One has to show the way up
the value chain. Innovation is the buzzword and the answer to change and
uncertainties. Once the competencies have been created and ‘heightened’ the
implementation of the conceived innovation/innovations, commences Evidently,
the leadership process being to firm up its foothold. Look to what extent Wipro
Corporation has innovated! From a soap and hair oil marketing company, today
Wipro is a giant in the IT sector and has moved on the IT enabled services with
its taking over a major stake in Spectramind, a well-known call centre.
*Perform:
Once one has been able to bring about the changes through innovation,
the sharpened and the heightened competencies would speak for themselves –
through performance. Performance is the end result, which shows the quality of
the inputs received by the ‘leadership process’ at the various stages
illustrated above. Performance is what other – particularly the customers get
to see and feel gratified about. I am reminded of a colleague and friend of
mine who vehemently prevented me from presenting a case study, which
highlighted the incessant efforts that were made in a process for making a
project successful, because the success was yet to be seen. Success stories are
therefore indicative of performance. Performance needs to be practised so that it would
lead to consistency in performance and give the final 'Midas' touches to the
leadership process.
The bottom line is that the leadership Process Chain or Cycle is
equivalent to going up the value chain – because the stage of learning sets in
once again!
