Author: Sushil Tayal
Leadership Essentials Part II
In my earlier article, I shared 6 Key Elements that, if adopted & and mastered, will make you a great leader. In this article, we shall explore further the 4 paths of Leadership, especially in the corporate/ business context.
In an ever-changing business world, the only thing certain is the uncertainty. New terminologies like BUPA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible), TUNA (Turbulent, Uncertain, Novel, Ambiguous) or RUPT (Rapid, Unpredictable, Paradoxical, Tangled) are evolving, and teams & organisations are expected to sail through these business environments.
The success or failure of the team depends upon the quality of leadership the team has access to.
We at Enabling World, based on our extensive experience and research in the field of Leadership Success, have zeroed down to 4 distinct paths of leadership.
1. Leading Self – This path covers the arena of competence required to be an effective leader as a person. It is all about developing oneself as a leader and their inner strength. Leaders must be aware of their strengths, passion, personal liking/ bias, tendencies to think & act in a certain way, emotional intelligence and mindfulness. Self-awareness is a foundational quality of effective leadership. By continuously developing self-awareness through feedback, reflection, training, and coaching, leaders can enhance their impact and drive success.
2. Leading Others – The role of the leader is to inspire people to aspire, channelise their energies and achieve the desired goal. The success of the leader is dependent on the motivation, competence and commitment of the people the leader is leading. The leader must build a competent team and a culture of a high level of result orientation with equally high psychological safety. Teams with high levels of psychological safety are more productive and have higher levels of engagement & retention. Given that the team operates in an uncertain business world, leaders must have & build a high level of resilience in the team. Leaders must have the agility and capability to champion the change to succeed.
3. Leading Business – Achieving business results is the primary reason for their existence in the business world. With the volatility of the business world, leaders must focus on their success in the business. While the earlier 2 paths are the primary pillars of success, leaders must also excel in the competencies that will help them produce successful results. Leaders apart from agility, must have a high level of business acumen and strategic thinking to navigate or prevent possible obstructions in achieving business goals. In addition to result orientation, excellence orientation in self & in the team helps them produce the best product or services at all times and pushes them to be creative & innovative to achieve superlative results. This constant drive to do their best helps them succeed and stay ahead of the curve. Change management is a constant expectation from them but transformation requires special efforts. It is about making large-scale changes that are often complex. How Microsoft moved from CD-based local retailed products to subscription-based online access. How banks transformed banking processes in India during and after the pandemic, and How Airtel in India is transforming itself from a telecom operator to a technology organisation. The ability to transform the people, team, organisation & business is a main highway of impactful & inspirational leadership.
4. Leading Sustainability – The world is changing fast, and so are the expectations around ethical business practices. It is no longer just about making profit & value for shareholders but having business processes & practices that are sustainable from the business perspective and for Mother Nature. It is about being socially responsible in everything we do. The practices of moving from plastic packing to recycled paper packing, buying local & calculating carbon footprint in procurement & distribution of products & services, being an energy efficient & non-polluting establishment and waste management are now expected from business & business leaders. Employees are demanding that organisations should become more sustainable. They are reluctant to choose employers/industries that they believe are harming Mother Nature. Employee activism at Amazon against the organisational commitment & practice towards sustainability is another example. Amazon has set a target to reach zero emissions by 2040, while activists are demanding that the company commit to net-zero carbon by 2030. CSR activities have become another element of assessing the quality of leadership in the organisation. How much money, time, and energy leaders & employees invest in General CSR activities is now one benchmark to assess the quality of organisation in all best places to work surveys. Diversity & Inclusion in the organisation is high on the agenda for successful organisations. Research has proven that diverse teams outperform non-diverse ones by 35%. Teams where men and women are equal earn 41% more revenue. The “Good Work Framework” of the World Economic Forum has one key objective to drive diversity, equity & inclusion in the business. It is not just about gender diversity but different facets of diversity like gender, race, education, age etc, including neurodiversity. To succeed, leaders must believe in and promote diversity & inclusion in all aspects of their business processes and provide inclusive growth to people.
At Enabling World, we are committed to supporting organisations in developing leaders in all 4 paths. We help organisations and individuals develop expertise by personalised solutions and help them build a successful leader(s) in them.
Let me know by putting in comments, your views on these 4 paths and your experience around these paths of leadership. Do share the tips that helped you build your successful leadership style. Looking forward to seeing your input.
Sushil Tayal – Enabling World
#leadership #inspiringleadership