The art of effective leadership
By Lal Balkaran
LEADERSHIP is an elusive quality and much has been written about it ever since the dawn of modern management theory. No wonder libraries are filled with countless books on its essential characteristics. It has been the most researched and documented topic in organisational behaviour culminating in a myriad of leadership theories and styles. Notably amongst these are Covey's Principle-Centred Leadership; Conger's and Kanungo's Charismatic Leadership; Nanus's Visionary Leadership; Luke's Catalytic Leadership; Harp's Change Leader; McNeil's and Clemmer's V.I.P. Strategy and the list just keeps growing. The traditional approaches focussing on leadership traits, behavioural styles and contingency theory have all proven to be weak. Instead, more pragmatic considerations have evolved like that of Professors Jane Howell's (of the University of Western Ontario) and Bruce Avolio's (of Binghamton University) developing on the Transformational, Transactional and Laissez-Faire leadership styles published in an article entitled `The leverage of leadership' (Globe & Mail of May 15, 1998).
In a nutshell: influencing and followership. But don't confuse it with the head of an organisation. Dr. Laurence J. Peter, developer of the Peter Principle maintains that: "Many are called leaders by virtue of their being ahead of the pack or at the top of the pyramid, and that is one definition of the word leader. But being out front or on top denotes only position and not the qualities of leadership. There is a significant difference between being in charge and being a leader."
Are leaders made or born? Does an effective leader need to have some mystical power bestowed at birth? Over the years, there have been many examples of leaders who appear to have achieved exceptional results through extraordinary charisma. Biographies of great leaders sometimes read as if they had entered the world with some exceptional genetic endowment. Don't believe it! The good news is that there is a growing body of evidence to show that leaders are made, not born. All of us have leadership traits which can be developed, nurtured and applied to produce measurable results. In this article, I will discuss some contemporary issues on the subject and demonstrate to prospective leaders how they can hone their inherent skills to become true and effective leaders through 10 ways. 1. Start with thyself About 400 B.C., Socrates said `Know Thyself'. More than two thousand years later today, this saying is still true. You must do a self-analysis, know your own values, examine your conscience, understand right from wrong and determine what is important for you and what it is you truly believe. After all, effective leadership is rooted in a high moral purpose and revolves around humanity. Consider His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, who, despite his frail health, continues to lead his flock of almost one billion Catholics drawn from a diverse range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds all united on a common set of belief and value systems. His dedication, alarming power and inspiration have influenced this generation much as Churchill and Roosevelt did theirs. Such a leader must be able to delineate what is good for people and create a climate of respectability, confidence, transparency and dignity. For example, in March 1941, the US 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was greatly opposed by his fellow Americans when he was seeking Congress's approval to support Britain in fighting the Nazis. He strongly believed he had a duty to support Britain. Roosevelt reminded Americans that when your neighbour's house is on fire, you do not ask them to pay you for a fire extinguisher. Americans got the message and were thus convinced and that was the turning point of WW II. Roosevelt believed that he was doing something that was right, not only for Americans but for all of mankind. The same can be said of Guyana's late great Dr. Cheddi Jagan's work on a New Global Human Order aimed at the redistribution of the world's wealth to relieve onerous debt charges levied on the Third World and move these countries towards self-sufficency. 2. Establish a vision Have a compelling vision in your mind of what you would like to achieve and in which you strongly believe and ensure it is widely shared by members of your organisation. Take Mahatma Gandhi for instance. He had no army and held no political office. Yet, through his vision and passion for an independent India coupled with his humility and simplicity in particular, he instilled a profound sense of purpose and vision that ultimately inspired his followers which brought the British to their knees. A leader must have a passion to show the virtues of his vision and be convincing in defending it. Every issue, act or event must flow from, be consistent with and revolve around this core leadership trait. Think about Bill Gates of Microsoft whose vision of a personal computer in every home with his operating system was the driving force behind Microsoft's success. Can you think of a PC that does not use Windows these days? 3. Read widely and understand relationships Readeth maketh a man and Information is power. Any leader worth his salt has got to read a diversity of things that add value and enable him to keep abreast of issues and events in addition to broadening his own knowledge. Read business, technology, political, international, including general periodicals and good books and ensure you have access to a wealth of reference material. This will be the backdrop for authoritative sources of information and lend credibility to whatever you say. If a day passes and you've read nothing, then you've learned nothing also. You may have run in to someone who says, `It's a great day, isn't it?' And that is the sum total of all that you've learned for that day. Mark Twain once said that: The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read. Seek relationships that enrich and add value to your life. Relationships influence how we think and behave and affect the course of our lives. Even a casual acquaintance or encounter with a stranger may have a deep impact. 4. Drive, Character and Integrity An effective leader must have a drive and enthusiasm in what he does. You must passionately believe in your role and the organisation's purpose and act vigourously to defending it and having it accomplished. Such an attitude is bound to inspire confidence and propel motivation in followers. In addition, subordinates will be self-assured, optimistic and productive. Challenges must be seen as opportunities which enhance positive thinking and not as problems to run away from. Possessing a good character, the foundation for effective leadership, should be seen as the catalyst for moral conduct. Out of character flows integrity which is basically the values which we firmly believe in and place on ourselves. Stephen R. Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, in his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said that "Personal Integrity generates trust: Integrity is conforming reality to our words - in other words, keeping promises and fulfilling expectations." 5. Think strategically, innovate and adapt to changes In an interview published in the July-Aug 1998 issue of HBR (Harvard Business Review), Franco Bernab (the CEO of ENI, Italy's large industrial group) said that `strategic thinking' is one of the most critical skills a leader must have. You must view every problem from 360 degrees. You must know your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of your organisation, your antagonists, and your supporters' Through effective leadership, Bernabe was able, during his six-year tenure as CEO, to dramatically transform ENI from complete chaos to a competitive and profitable publicly traded corporation focused on energy production. An effective leader must also use his creative skills and learn to continuously innovate, i.e., instituting changes that make a difference. We live in an ever changing world where globalisation is the norm and where what is now appropriate quickly becomes obsolete by tomorrow's technology and standards. Change is both inevitable and unavoidable. We are surrounded by changes that inevitably shape the way we think and live. Such changes force us to adapt or be swept away into oblivion. In the Jan-Feb 1997 issue of the HBR, R.A. Heifetz and D.L. Laurie in an article entitled The Work of Leadership stressed that "Changes in societies, markets, customers, competition, and technology around the globe are forcing organisations to clarify their values, develop new strategies, and learn new ways of operating." 6. Develop good communication and personal skills The ability to communicate effectively is a critical building block and the core for successful leadership. A leader may have the most brilliant of ideas and concepts and best of intentions. But if he is unable to convert these through clear and concise verbal and written communication, they become useless. He must be able to speak and write simply and clearly with authority in a non-threatening way and with a good command of facts to win the confidence and respect of others. Personal skills in this context are intended to cover body language, listening, presentation, image, etiquette and organising. Body language sends out more powerful signals than the spoken word. For instance, leaning forward towards a person during a conversation indicates you have an interest in what he or she is saying whereas crossing your legs and leaning back shows that you are shutting the other person off or the topic might be boring. Listening is a more involved mental process and is an art that is learned and practised. Remember the lines People talking without speaking; People hearing without listening from Paul Simon's `Sounds of Silence'. Isn't this so true? Most times, we tend to hear rather than listen thus enabling us to misinterpret a message. Image - the way a leader dresses and grooms himself, must be such that they inspire confidence in others. Good manners must be learned and applied so that leaders can perform flawlessly with poise and confidence in any situation. Return phone calls in a reasonable time; answer correspondence; respond to e-mails; attend meetings invited to; apologise when late; and return all borrowed items. These are the traits that can be developed and make someone effective. Finally, an outstanding leader must have good organising skills to show things can be readily located and time well-managed and productively spent. 7. Take Risks The courage and ability to take risks is another key attribute for effective leadership. Risk frequently pays large dividends. Some people prefer not taking any risk at all for fear of looking silly or losing out badly. Had it not been for risks, some of the greatest inventors, innovators and discoverers would not have done what they did. Columbus indeed took a great risk to prove that he could reach India by going West, not knowing that the American continent stood in his way, thus opening up the New World. Mikhail Gorbachev, one of this century's greatest leaders, recognised the need for drastic change when he came to power in 1985 and he wasted no time in working towards that end fully aware of the huge risks he was taking. Through his enormous courage and vision he was able to transform the world in a mere three years. He captured the imagination of people everywhere, winning adulation, and , in 1990, the Nobel Peace Prize. Without doubt, that is exceptional leadership. 8. Be hopeful and optimistic Hope, according to C.R. Snyder (a University of Kansas psychologist) refers to `believing you have both the will and the way to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be.' When someone has hope, it implies that he or she will not yield to defeat, depression or set-backs. These are just little bumps in life that are temporary and that can generally be overcome. Optimism, on the other hand, refers to an inclination of the best possible outcome or a trait whereby things will generally turn out to be favourable despite difficulties - both current and anticipated. Optimists see a failure as due to something that can be changed so they succeed next time around while pessimists blame themselves for failure ascribing it to some lasting characteristic they are helpless to change. 9. Persevere, admit failures and show resilience The ability to keep going until one's vision is achieved despite hurdles is indeed a fundamental trait of leadership. A brilliant example of this leadership trait is exemplified in one of the Caribbean's and Guyana's most outstanding politician Dr Cheddi Jagan. His almost 30-year struggle at great personal sacrifice and against seemingly insurmountable obstacles for a return to democratic rule in Guyana was finally won in 1992. Who would have persevered that long in the wilderness of an opposition politician, a job he was forced into through electoral fraud. Leaders do not always win and there are bound to be setbacks on the road to success. Failure should be acknowledged and accepted with dignity. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy went on television to take responsibility for the failure of the infamous Bay of Pigs fiasco. The plan, which was to land Cuban exiles who would foment revolution and overthrow Fidel Castro, was a disaster from start to end. Mr Kennedy, who felt he had been misled by experts and the Central Intelligence Agency, accepted full responsibility. Typically, a crisis undermines one's self-esteem, which in turn makes it harder to deal with. Under such circumstances, show some kind of resilience rather than rolling over and playing dead. 10. Lead by your deeds Leaders must practise what they preach. Above all, the way they lead must be consistent with the way they live. In other words, true leaders are those who, through their deeds, lead by serving others. Again Dr Cheddi Jagan is one political leader whose life story - up from modest beginnings to holding the highest office in Guyana through honest means - provided an effective backdrop for admiration and the sound economic, social and governmental changes he advocated and implemented during his tenure in both 1957-64 and 1992-97. Summary There are few true effective leaders although most people can recognise and agree on a good leader when they see one. Finding effective leaders is indeed a difficult task and research indicates that many believe such leaders exist but few measure up in the eyes of their peers. Leadership is not just about charisma or charm and should not be confused with personality. Rather, it revolves around all of the above which are the hallmarks of an exceptional leader. Followers should feel comfortable when effective leaders are around and not in anyway threatened or fearful. Ultimately, followers will be inspired to trust their leaders and allegiance will be obtained willingly and not by force. After all, leaders can no longer force loyalty; they must win it. What then is so special about true and effective leaders? Indeed, true leaders are those who lead by serving others. For one thing, they thrive in a world that many find confusing. Amidst the complex global, social, economic, political and technological environments in which they operate, they are persistently and conscientiously pursuing their goals with a single-minded purpose. Again, consider Dr C.B. Jagan (1918-1997), for instance of Guyana. The party he created won an overall majority at the recently-held free and fair elections in December 1997 without him at the helm for the first time since 1953. Such performance represents superior leadership qualities and is aptly described by Walter Lippman (1889-1974), a US liberal political commentator, when he said: The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. Lal Balkaran, MBA, FCMA, ACIS, CGA is also a Certified Internal Auditor who has authored seven books and dozens of articles published in various international business publications. He resides in Ontario, Canada. Lal.Balkaran@attcanada.com
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