Demystifying the idea of leadership

The current literature on 'Leadership' mostly deals with individual paradigms of what is essentially an integral concept and it often does this in a manner that overemphasised at best only a particular facet of leadership presenting it as the exclusive hallmark of the success of the leader.

Nothing illustrates this better than the expansive writings on VUCA - a term said to have been used by the US Army post-Cold War - to describe the challenge leaders faced in handling a situation that was marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. In the world of business as also in the area of security concerns of the nation, it is now acknowledged that the success of the Information Technology revolution, with 1991 as its cut-off year, created a new world - called the Age of Information - where 'change was the only constant'.

The advent of VUCA was a reinforcement of the fundamental plank of leadership in the new world whose mandate was that 'knowledge-based decision-making' was a prime determinant - though not the only one - of a leader’s success. A leader has to be a decisive person and his decisions are based not on 'charisma' or 'inheritance' but on information that bridged the gap between a 'decision' and a 'guess'.

Being well-informed on various relevant spheres in any context is therefore a basic requirement of a successful leader. Corporates recognise the importance of knowledge-based decision-making and employ professional teams to collate and analyse what is called ‘business Intelligence’ available externally as well as from within the organisation. Correctly interpreting what looked complex and ambiguous in an environment of volatility and uncertainty, is of great help in reaching the right decisions.

A successful CEO today uses the totality of information available to him and also derives benefit from his or her own experience of the world -- not only of a particular line of business - in taking the judgement call. If a good decision is based on knowledge, decentralisation of decision-making - the hallmark of a successful corporate entity -- would also be logically rooted in that idea particularly when relevant information available in the organisation, was all supposed to be shared down the line. It is this emphasis on being well-informed that has given newfound importance to 'feedback from below' - 'machine learning' is a gift of modern technology serving the same cause.

All business is human activity and the content of leadership is synonymous with the ability of the leader to interact with the 'followers' as well as with the people at large. The persona of a leader must satisfy three fundamental requisites -- authenticity, understanding of human nature and responses and impartiality about awarding credits to others.

A leader has to be sensitive to human situations - this flows from the leader’s understanding of the human psyche and behaviour. On the work front, a boss should be a good leader too and must know his people well - even to the extent broadly of being aware of the situation of a subordinate at home that might be causing personal stress and anxiety to the latter.

A leader should know all about teamwork and the factors that enhance the team’s productivity. An understanding of the cultural diversity of the workforce -- that made a difference even in a simple matter like the idea of what ‘leisure’ is - becomes crucial.

The leader knows that a multicultural team can be the storehouse of energy and productivity. In the final analysis, the success of a leader has to be measured by the ability to attract followers, hold on to them and push them ahead towards a mission.

A leader can be evasive about his share of responsibility but only for a while because within the organisation this negative trait would not remain hidden for long and lead to an irreversible loss of reputation for the individual. A senior - in one particular case - used the tactic of saying 'please speak' on the file and after the discussion with the junior was over, returning the file to the latter with the comment 'as discussed' - thus maintaining the scope for complete deniability in the event of something going wrong with the decision.

In the final analysis, the position of a leader is one of 'responsibility' not merely of ‘status’ and this responsibility includes a 'nurtural' role of mentoring those who were working for him.

Will a leader emerge on the horizon if there was no opportunity coming his or her way? Does a leader have to work for his leadership? Is there a challenge of competition in building yourself as a leader? Can a leader stay on when everything else around was prone to shifting? And does a leader stand on a higher pedestal on the scale of human quality than ordinary mortals?

Sensitivity towards human beings, a healthy curiosity that produces the spirit of inquiry which in turn was conducive to making the potential leader a well-informed person and the gift of a 'macro' vision, are a few of the traits built into the persona of the man who would lead others successfully. A potential leader equipped with all of this does not miss an opportunity that is presented to him -- he can in fact even 'create' an opportunity through a vigorous pursuit of the market if he wanted to enter the business world or of polity if he was inclined to take to the path of public life.

A leader no doubt has to work to further enhance his hold and efficacy and keep the initiative with him. Digitisation and the resultant globalisation have created a kind of competition that could arise from any part of the world and enable a less resourceful but ‘smarter’ player to take on the stronger rival. Moreover, a successful leader today has to reckon with sudden unforeseen shifts in the business environment that would test him for the capacity to handle the 'challenge of change'. A well-informed, confident and decisive leader would visualise the need for 'course correction' and ride the change instead of getting bogged down in it. A true leader is adept at handling human interactions since he understands human psychology and carries an adequate degree of 'emotional Intelligence' required for this purpose. A leader therefore is gifted with qualities that made him somewhat special in relation to the average crowd.

To sum up, leadership does not come to everybody simply because the individual has to measure up to certain well-conceived paradigms that define it. These attributes can be summarised in the acronym DRINKS - denoting Decisiveness, Reliability, Initiative, Nerves, Knowledge-based decision making and awareness of the importance of Saving time considering that 'time' had emerged as the new 'resource' beyond funds, manpower and information.

Nerves here refer to that intrinsic courage of conviction that a leader cannot do without. There can be many adds on for sprucing up one's leadership profile but the six intellectual traits enumerated above represented the foundational qualities that would make for a formidable leadership.

Leadership, significantly, was never ‘static’ as it had to cater for a fast-changing business environment, breaks in supply chains and even geopolitical developments.

A leader rises above the details to quickly evaluate what was going on within the organisation and outside that was of lasting significance and has the inner strength to produce the right responses. In this, he has the advantage of being a good communicator who could convince his men of the merit of his decisions. In the final analysis, however, the power of ‘authenticity’ describes in one word the defining attribute of a successful leader.

(The author is a former Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Views expressed are personal)