Another Sunday Reflection (23-10-2011)

It has been a challenging week. Certain unexpected events unnecessarily drained away my energy that otherwise could have been put into better use. Well this is part of my occupational risk and every leader is to expect some disturbances and obstacles some how or rather, sooner or later.
Yet when it came to weekend, it was again a happy occasion when the whole family could gather together to have a sumptuous dinner. The restaurant was crowded and as usual, I was reading while waiting for food to be served. (Sorry to my family members who preferred me to talk and listen rather than reading quietly.) It was at that moment while I was reading the article 'Practices that Distinguish High-Performing Leaders' by Joan Bragar (from the magazine 'Management-Voice of Leadership Issue Volume 46, No. 4) that I found some answers to my present predicament from that article. The main point of this Sunday reflection is not to highlight my challenges but to share with you some valuable points about leadership just in case you have not read this article.
This article highlights the results of a research by Forum Corporation, a workplace consultancy based in Boston. Forum's effort includes study into the undeniable fact of new and more diverse workforce, diminished institutional loyalties and less reverence for authority. (So true and relevant.) Faced with such challenges, managers around the world began to push authority downward and experiment with empowerment management. Forum undertook an extensive research in various stages and came out with a number of important conclusions that I would like to share with you. However, with my limited knowledge and ability, I may not be able to interpret the message intended by the author to readers with 100% accuracy. Hence, it will be good for those who are interested to read the actual article. (Those sentences in brackets are my personal comments.)

The findings:

• Without leadership, organisations falter in times of change. Strong leaders see clearly and act decisively in times of turbulence. Continually seeking information from all levels of the organisation and from outside sources is critical to building the confidence needed to overcome organisational paralysis.
• During periods of rapid change in technologies, markets and competitive conditions, progress depends on personal initiative and leadership skills throughout the organisation. A few lone individuals at the top cannot implement strategies successfully. (See that?)
• Position and titles bear no relationship to leadership performance. (So true and so relevant. The most unfortunate and dangerous scenario is that of high position but low leadership performance.)
• Leadership involves interdependence more than individualism. Leadership has less to do with individualism than the ability to build and maintain relationship across the organisation. (Gone are the days when leaders think they know best and know all. Unfortunately such mentality still exists in the modern world.)
• Leaders inspire others to take on leadership tasks. A leader is not simply someone who can win followers but more to that, a leader can show others that they themselves can lead, by giving them power and support to do so. (We have to acknowledge that this effort takes time. Only short-sighted and narrow-minded people think this can be done quickly, and make faulty decisions based on unilateral self-deceiving thoughts. Or, perhaps sometimes it is intentional or even a conspiracy?)
• Outstanding management skills are an essential component of leadership. Corporations do not move from stability to change in a clearly delineated junctures. In reality, conditions swing back and forth from day to day, even hour to hour. Coping with the pendulum of change does not mean parcelling out the "leadership" work for leaders and "management" work for managers. Instead, the leadership and management skills should be fostered within each individual.
• Leadership is contextual. Effective leadership is grounded in an extensive knowledge of the business environment, the company, the workgroup, culture and values. (To think that a certain success can be quickly and easily replicated in another organisation is just wishful thinking.)
• Leadership can be learned. It is not just a question of native talent. The skills of effective leadership can be acquired. (Hence, transferring of a weak leader to another organisation will not solve the problem of that organisation. It may result in the downfall of yet another organisation. Neither is transferring of a strong leader to that organisation a solution because the fact that 'leadership is contextual'. Moreover it will send a wrong signal that the good leader is being punished and this can further be complicated due to the complex social and cultural factors. A better solution is to provide an opportunity for the training of weak leaders either through training, mentoring and consultancy as supported by the Forum research. A more direct means will be to require the weak leader to acquire necessary skills and perform, after all he or she is paid to do the job well, nothing less than that. So, why tolerate people who continue to go up without increasing competency and try to circumvent the situation by other means that may result in lose-lose situations in whatever way we may look at---if we are genuine and sincere about it.)    
• Leadership training can improve participants' abilities. It is statistically proven that almost everyone can develop and improve his or her leadership skills through training. (In this context, it is wise to recruit people who can help out in the training and provide a multiplier effect than to assign that person to a very narrow confine. A leader who can see the forest other than just the trees will want to optimise the conditions for improvement of leaderships through trainings, unless of course, he or she has other unspoken agendas.)
• Leadership is not style, it is action. Forum's data indicate that the roots of effective leadership are more practical, and that leadership is based upon a set of observable behaviours. Whatever a person's personalty or character, they can improve as a leader simply by mastering these behaviours. These behaviours include the ability to interpret external and internal conditions; shaping, communicating and creating a positive picture of the future; mobilising and inspiring people.

 The most powerful conclusion of Forum's research is that leadership is not magic. (So, do not expect magic.) Although outstanding leadership can effect miraculous change, it is not itself mysterious, inborn quality. It is linked to learnable behaviours. (So, please do not look for short cut.) Selective recruitment is not the answer. (Neither is discriminative recruitment.) To link leadership development to corporate strategy, employees must be helped to overcome deep-seated patterns of thought and actions. They must learn more than tactical leadership skills. To be effective leaders, they must know where the group is headed, understand that they have control over its direction, and feel that the direction is consistent with their own belief systems.

(Despite my effort to be as close as what is actually written in the article, I am afraid I may not provide a very thorough picture intended by Joan Bragar, the author. So do read that article. However, I find this article very inspiring and soothing while I recuperate from two simultaneous stabs on my back, one from the top and another from the bottom. If you do not quite comprehend this part, I am afraid I cannot elaborate further. Otherwise it will not be just a stab or two but a deep slash with a parang. (' : ') Thank you.)