John Samuel
The quality of an organization- its culture, its over-all character- is to a large extent influenced by the quality of its leadership models. Many institutions unconsciously tend to imitate the leader in terms of culture, character and leadership styles. The character of Leadership can be contagious in a positive as well as negative sense.
Confident leader will induce a confident organization. Insecure leader can induce an insecure organization.
Insecure leaders and organization can also develop an acute sense of paranoia; a derivative of "self-doubt"-and internal crisis of conviction. When a leader or an organization suffers from "self-doubt"- or credibility-deficit, they tend to externalize a problem. They will not take the responsibility for their leadership gaps and the consequent crisis within an organization. Usually insecure leaders tend to find fault with others, external factors rather than taking responsibility by themselves. They tend to correct others and less inclined to introspect or correct themselves.
Any one in leadership positions in any organization will have to be aware of one slippery road. Once your are in a position of power within the hierarchy of an organization, most of the people will tell you what you want to hear. Once you get in to that mode, slowly there will be more and more people around you, telling what you want to hear. Gradually only those people who say what you want to hear- will be around you. That is how coteries are being formed. They will tell you that you are the most fantastic leader they have ever "experienced". - They will use "superlative' to tell more and more lies about you to make you happy. Who does not like to be flattered? Who does not like praises?
Such coteries will keep “alerting” you about impending dangers, problems, about lurking trouble makers or about those who are not loyal. Coteries create a power-grid around the leader- to derive power for themselves. Coteries are usually formed by those who do not have their own steam or capacity and they derive their power through their perceived proximity to the leader. And those insecure leaders who cultivate and nurture a coteries around her/him need them to boost her/his sense of confidence and to guard against their perpetual fear about those who may try to undermine them. Eventually the coterie becomes an insulation around the leader- and the leader begins to lose touch with the pulse of an organization or the real issues within the organization. That is the beginning of the down fall of those who are in the leadership.
Usually those leaders with the courage of conviction and ability to rise above the rest will not cultivate or encourage coteries or partisan groups within the organization.
But those who get in to the trap of coterie will never “grow- within”. To grow- “within’- one has to constantly outgrow oneself. And one can not outgrow oneself if someone does not challenge oneself- constantly and consistently. Unless one keeps challenge oneself, one can not grow. Unless one begins to learn to listen, to be challenged and learn to absorb and manage them, one can not outgrow oneself. Unless one constantly learn and unlearn, one can not nurture her/his leadership quality.
Leadership is all about Integrity, Imagination, Ideas and Influence. Leadership is all about the ability to learn, listen, advance, enable, renew, and synergize. Leadership is all about the capacity and confidence to be honest, to initiate, to innovate and to inspire. Finally good leadership is driven by deep sense of people and purpose. The corner stone of good leadership is a sense of integrity, fair-play and courage of conviction. Leadership is also the ability to manage people, resources, and systems to make the best impact. Those with good leadership skills and capacity can become good managers. Those with managerial capacity do not have to be necessarily leaders or those endowed with high leadership qualities.
Managers are those with ability to make the best use of available resources in an effective and efficient way to get the best desired output or out-come. Managers are often driven by their task and targets within a given point in time. Good managers can optimize the use of people, and systems through plans, process and performance. Leadership requires the ability to inspire, envision and conceptualize strategies much larger than a given task or target or an operation. Leadership requires an ability to see the big picture and small picture at the same time.
An ethical and empowered leadership means enabling a creative, learning and confident culture with in the organization- through walking the talk and consistently bridging the gap between words and deeds. This also means the ability to be challenged and challenge – in an enabling manner. Such leaders will encourage colleagues to be frank and honest about their perception and perspective.
One of my most respected colleagues was the one who asked tough questions to me; the more he questioned, the more I learned- the more I listened to him, the more I learned. And when he realized that the more I learned, the more he supported and respected me. In the course I learned something I was less inclined to: Financial Management.
How does a leader derives power? What are the sources of power within a leader?
It matters weather a leader derives a sense of "power" from deep "within: - (from his or her sense of mission or calling) or from the positions he/she occupies in the organization
Many who derive power from "positions" tend to exert "power over"- through 'control' and 'manipulations. Their "empowerment" is directly proportional to the position they climb. When such people are internally insecure -emotionally insecure, they may even have 'self-worth" issue. When someone is internally insecure, they will begin to suspect many people who are smarter than them; who are more competent than them, who may be more recognized by the peers than them. Then they need a coterie to keep them float. They will use power over others to dictate, to discipline and to control. Those who manage a team through dictation, discipline and control will not induce a sense of ownership and consequent sense of creativity.
Such leaders may be able to “deliver” a project efficiently – but they will not be able to make change happen or to make path-breaking innovation within an organization.
Such people want to climb the ladder somehow- and since they may not have their "steam"- they derive it from those in positions of power. Those who get power- through loyalty or through "patrons"- also tend to cultivate "loyalty" and a coterie. They need a "coterie" to get a sense of power- because internally they are neither inspired nor empowered.
Loyalty is demanded. Commitment is committed. Commitment requires conviction.
In the case of "loyalty"- the agency is with someone more powerful. The more powerful may demand loyalty from the less powerful.
Those leaders and organization that demand "absolute" loyalty are those who are perpetually "insecure" about themselves- and they need "loyalists" - to sooth them- to tell them what they want to hear. Those who question or challenge the leader will be seen as someone who is less loyal to the leader and those are seen as less loyal to the leader will be projected as those who have less loyalty to the organization. Insecure leaders also induce insecurity all around. Such a sense of insecurity can create an organization consisting of people driven by a sense of “fear” and “punishment”. If the overall culture of an organization is that of mistrust, fear and insecurity, that organization will be a less effective organization and if such an organizational culture prevails, decay and degeneration sets in and the very organization itself may collapse or fade away.
Unlike loyalty, "commitment" is a choice made by a person out her/his own conviction- with a sense of freedom.
Good leadership thrives on challenges within and beyond. Without people challenging them, probing them, questioning them - there is no excitement. And if they are confident, they will induce confidence. The entire organizational culture will become positive, energetic and confident.
Confident leaders will recruit people smarter than them- better than them. A good leader is as good as her/his team. And one can only make creative team when you get the best of people- better than the leader in many ways. Smart leader takes smarter people. When you are surrounded by a creative, committed and competent team- the creative instincts and the learning curve of the leader keep moving to a higher plain- someone with an ability to see the big picture.
Someone whith high leadership quality will have greater instincts to understand and perceive a situation, a group of people and crisis, in much sharper and quicker way. They can understand the individual psychology of a person and the social psychology of the group. Such leaders will have a sense of critical self-awareness.: aware about their own strengths and limitation, opportunities and threat. Such leaders with critical self-awareness will constantly seek feedback from colleagues. They are not afraid to make mistakes and admit a mistake. They are not averse to take risk. They are keen to share credit with others.
A leader with highly evolved leadership quality can rise above the rest and see the things others can not see. Someone who can see the same issue from various angles. Some one who can see the sky and earth at the same time. A good leader is someone whose feet are firmly on the ground and eyes seeks to go beyond the horizon. Someone in a constant mode of learning and listening begin to develop instincts and wisdom to see the unseen, to hear the unheard, to feel the ripples and make the waves. Such leadership will be intuitive enough about the future to shape and make future.
Inspired leaders will induce inspiration. If they are honest with themselves, they will induce people to be honest about their perception. Good leaders can induce positive energy- and once people learn that they can share their perception and feeling honestly- without fear or favor, then the magic happens. Everyone get energized because everyone begins to feel this is "my organization"; this ‘our’ cause- and I too have space and freedom.
The moment people have sense of space and freedom- they take initiatives, they begin to innovate, they begin to create. A good leader is someone who can induce a sense of space, freedom and ownership to each and every person in the team, treating every person as unique. An organizational culture that nurtures a sense of freedom from fear and freedom of expression can become a creative organization.
A creative organization can do wonders. Good leaders are those who can nurture leadership and leaders. The sign of great leader is not how or she is competent or charismatic. The sign of a great leader is how many leaders he/she helped to create. Someone with high quality leadership can simply outgrow herself/himself and move on to new arenas of learning and new sources of challenges. When they outperform themselves, they become redundant within an organization. Such leaders will soon outgrow the organization itself to become the leadership of a the whole sector or the larger society itself.
When the leader gives full credit to the individuals and team- they begin to transform together- and they enjoy mutual critiquing- as friends. Then the most creative discussions and ideas come through fierce arguments and endless debates in a pub or park. They thrive on arguments – and not on submissions.
A good leader will be empathetic, enabling, educative, empowering and enduring.
That is the magic of good organization- a magic of leadership willing to listen and learn; a leader who is slightly skeptical about his/her own ideas- someone who search for the best of ideas from anyone and anywhere- willing to learn constantly. Their enthusiasm and energy can radiate across the organization. They do not need any coterie- because they are driven by a sense of mission much larger than them.
When leaders have a sense of history and purpose larger than them- they know they are actually simple human beings- with feet of clay. Then they know how much they do not know. They should be able to laugh at themselves. When someone say “Sir/Madam you were not in element" or say" your lecture was boring"- they can laugh at themselves and say "Thank you for your feedback. I will try next time”
When we have sense of how much we do not know, then we begin to learn. And leadership is all about learning... from every single person and occasion...endless learning, unlearning, reflection and reworking- constantly thinking and acting....driven beyond the immediate interest, immediate criticism or immediate "loyalists”
Unfortunately in most of the organizations, there are more bureaucrats- and less leaders- with inspired leadership qualities.
Bureaucratic leaders derive power from their appointment letter, those who above them- from their chair. Without their chair, they become zero. So they self-preserve- somehow. There are indeed many good and sincere bureaucrats within organizations- those who go by the books, those with integrity. But they are a product of a structure and system. - not the vehicle for a larger mission- much larger than the person.
(This is a part of my interventions in a discussion on Modes of organizations and power in the Fourth-Estate Critique – an e-mail discussion groups moderated from Kerala, India. I thank my friend Mr. Damodar Prasad of CDIT, Trivandrum for stimulating this reflection largely based on my twenty years of experience in leading and managing organizations and team)
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