Three capabilities leaders must develop

All leaders must excel at personal proficiency. Without the foundation of trust and credibility, you cannot ask others to follow you. While individuals may have

different styles (introvert/extrovert, intuitive/sensing, etc.), any individual leader must be seen as having personal proficiency to engage followers

“The only permanent thing in life is change”. This is a quote we often hear. In the context of organisations there are two types of changes we need to be aware of, i.e. changes within the organisation and those that take place in the operating environment. If the change in the operating environment is faster and more significant than the changes within the organisation, extinction would be inevitable. Business history is full of such instances. Thus, the phrase “you cannot see dinosaurs dance”.

If one observes the changes that have taken place in the past few decades, it would be clear that the speed and the intensity of the change in almost all areas of human existence have been fast and vast. Whether it is technology, other fields of sciences, political and economic dimensions, or even climatic conditions, change has been dramatic and at shorter intervals. In every sphere the cycle of change has become shorter, and the intensity sharper.

To illustrate this, we can take the example of the time taken to reach 50 million users of various technologies pre internet and post.  Even if the data are not 100% accurate we have observed these trends as contemporary phenomena. These changes have impacted significantly on the operating environment of businesses.

When the changes are so severe, businesses cannot operate using the management paradigm alone. Managing according to rules can work well when there is predictability. When that is not so, the organisations have to adapt rapidly to the changing environment, anticipate such changes and effect appropriate changes within the organisation. This can be done only by leading.

Over the last two decades Leadership has become a major area of study and training in the corporate world. According to a Forbes article, in 2020 alone leadership development has been a $366 billion industry across the world. The number of books written on Leadership is testimony to this observation.

In a landmark study conducted by Prof Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman, they offered a simplified formula known as the Leadership Code.

The Leadership Code is the result of extensive research done by the world-renowned HR Guru Dave Ulrich et al to synthesise the core capabilities of leaders based on all significant research and practical work available up to that time. This helps one to cut through the concept clutter and identify what every leader at whatever level of the organisation has to Do and to Be.  Thus, the five leadership roles are identified as, strategist, executor, talent manager, and human capital developer and the core being personal proficiency. Leadership Code helps every leader to link his or her results to these capabilities.

Simply put, they are: Strategists- where are we going? Executor – How are we going and what needs to be done, Talent Manager- who comes with us and Human Capital Developer- who will be there when we are gone. Then the core is a set of personal competencies, summarised as personal proficiency.

 Leadership Code

The authors over the years have made some broad observations.

All leaders must excel at personal proficiency. Without the foundation of trust and credibility, you cannot ask others to follow you. While individuals may have

different styles (introvert/extrovert, intuitive/sensing, etc.), any individual leader must be seen as having personal proficiency to engage followers. This is probably the toughest of the five domains to train and some individuals are naturally more capable than others.

Similarly, business leaders must sense the constant changes taking place in the operating environment by way of observing trends and patterns. Not only with the help of predictive analytics but with human intuition as well

All leaders must have one towering strength. Most successful leaders have at least one of the other four roles in which they excel. Most are personally predisposed to one of the four areas. These are the signature strengths of leaders.

All leaders must be at least average in his or her “weaker” leadership domains. It is possible to train someone to learn how to be strategic, execute, manage talent, and develop future talent. There are behaviours and skills in each domain that can be identified, developed, and mastered.

The higher up the leader rises in the organisation, the more he or she needs to develop excellence in more than one of the four domains.

In the current context of an ever-increasing digitised civilization, I believe leaders need to pay more attention to three of the many proficiencies identified under personal proficiency. They are, the ability to cope, think creatively and enhanced ability to sense.

 Ability to cope

When changes are frequent and dramatic, leaders are exposed to increasing moments of uncertainty. If a leader fails to navigate such uncertainties, then she would not be able to move forward.

This can be compared to the very basic human behaviour of walking. If you walk very slowly paying attention to the movement of your feet and the sensations, you will notice that to move forward one has to lift one foot, move it forward and bring it to the ground. As it touches the ground the other foot must be raised from the floor. In between the touching of the first foot and the raising of the other foot one goes through a moment of imbalance when the entire body weight is transferred to the leg that touches the ground. But walking happens because the person is sure of the landing surface, the ground, and the sense of direction of the movement. Even more than the firmness of the ground it is the sense of direction that helps us move.

From this simple process we can understand one of the fundamental dimensions of uncertainty and how to cope. That is to develop confidence in what you are doing and have a clear sense of direction although the present moment is lucid or in turmoil.

When a leader must navigate so much uncertainty it takes a heavy toll on her, and could be stressful. In such situations the leader should be able to have kindness or friendliness toward oneself. If you want to demand more from you in terms of performance, you need to be kind to yourself and provide as much positive energy as possible. Even if mistakes happen you should not punish yourself. The best approach in my view is imagining “you as your own child”. Treat yourself in the same way you would treat your own child, in difficulties. When faltering, how would a caring parent behave towards a child? If that is the attitude the leader has for her then the same attitude will touch the fellow team members ensuring closer cooperation.

This capability can be developed by learning to have increased self-awareness.

 Thinking creatively

 This is identified as intellectual agility within the Leadership Code under personal proficiency. In all fields the ability to be creative would be significantly higher with the advent of AI. This is true whether it is science, the arts or commerce. To illustrate this phenomenon let me take marketing communications as an example.

Two or three decades ago creativity in marketing communication was dependent upon the individual art or copy directors based on their own exposure, and circumstances. Later, with the circulation of international publications the exposure enhanced, and collective creativity was positively influenced. This can be seen if one studies the evolution of print advertisements over the last four to five decades.

Thus, developing mindfulness is a key leadership proficiency in the new operating environment. A primary skill that can help improve the ability to cope in times of uncertainty, think creatively to find better solutions and be able to sense self and others

In the sphere of television commercials, the advent of satellite TV allowed cross border TV commercials to be seen by creative directors in many markets. This exposure improved the overall creative quality of TV commercials. Talent shows such as, “Got Talent” have enhanced the overall quality and creativity of performing arts.

The popularity of social media changed the dynamics completely, as many could create and co create each other’s work. Again, the complexity of overall creativity enhanced significantly.

In all these stages it was the exposure acquired by an individual artist that conditions the overall creative standards. However, what AI does is synergize and synthesize millions of expressions, and form a new wave of creativity that is far more profound than all previous waves of collective enhancements of creativity. This demands leaders to leverage that collective creativity and be even more creative.

To improve creativity a leader should master five basic behaviours known as the DNA of an innovator. ( Prof Hal B. Gregersen) They are the ability to observe, question, experiment, network and associational thinking.

 Sensing

Sensing is a living organism’s ability to read the environment and the beings present around it and respond appropriately. This is a basic survival instinct if not a capability. But with the advancement of technology, we are becoming increasingly poorer in sensing as a species.

Five decades ago, farmers in tropical countries in Asia could predict the weather by observing different phenomena in the environment. For instance, if they noticed the weaver birds building their nests on higher branches, they knew they could expect heavy rains. If they built their nests on lower branches, it is an indication of poor rainfall during the forthcoming season. When you think about it, doesn’t that make sense? If the rain is heavy, there can be floods and to face the floods the nests must be on higher branches. Those farmers observed the happenings around them so carefully that they could perceive the trends and patterns and build those into their knowledge base.

Today, while Google maps make everyone confident to travel even in unknown locations, it takes away the ability to notice landmarks on the way. A very important sensing capability.

Similarly, business leaders must sense the constant changes taking place in the operating environment by way of observing trends and patterns. Not only with the help of predictive analytics but with human intuition as well.

In addition, leaders need to be sensitive to themselves, understanding their own deep emotions and motives if they are to perform better. When a person is sensitive to her own self such a person can observe, listen and empathise with the person beside her. This is very important as we are increasingly becoming lonely, the ability to communicate with fellow human beings making eye contact and understanding the feelings of that person, becoming even weaker. The leaders must be better at linking with the team members.

To develop these three capabilities of coping, thinking creatively, and sensing self and the environment one must be more and more self-aware. Becoming aware is a basic human capability that can be developed to a refined skill through the practice of mindfulness or Sati as described in the teachings of the Buddha, though the practice itself has no religious limitations.

We have a general capacity to become aware of our surroundings, then we become aware of our actions sometimes long after an event, sometimes as we are engaged in it halfway through, and in some instances just before. If this basic capability is developed by constant conscious practice, then we can be more and more mindful.

When mindful, the first thing we learn is to become intensely aware of the present moment, especially life as it happens now, bringing our attention to the present, free from the worries of the past and the anxieties of the future, the two main distractions to the present moment. This reduces the inner chatter and then develops a profound silence within, for prolonged periods. This alone frees up an enormous amount of mental energy that is wasted dwelling in the past and the future.

Secondly this skill helps us observe things without losing perspective and become increasingly sharp in our observations. We lose our ability to observe objectively because we always get influenced by our likes or dislikes or due to deluded or confused mental states.

Mindfulness gives that edge to a person to approach situations with a clear and calm mind. It is the most important ingredient to navigate through the kind of stressful situations we are exposed to regularly.

As techniques it is recommended to observe any physical sensations as they occur, movements of the body, and even becoming aware of mental states. It is common to observe the movement of breath without interfering with it. In doing so whenever the practitioner realises that her attention is not on the breath but on some other stimuli or a thought, she becomes aware and brings the attention back to breath. While doing that she develops this very important capability of “Letting Go” which is the fundamental prerequisite for mental freedom.

It is only a mind that knows to be free, can cope uncertainties, allow creativity to flourish and above all be sensitive to what goes on.

Thus, developing mindfulness is a key leadership proficiency in the new operating environment. A primary skill that can help improve the ability to cope in times of uncertainty, think creatively to find better solutions and be able to sense self and others.

 References

Leadership Code – Ulrich Dave, Smallwood Norm, Sweetman Kate.

Innovators DNA- Clayton Christensen, Hal B. Gregersen, and Jeff Dyer Inward Bound-  Deepal Sooriyaarachchi

 (The writer is an eminent management consultant, author, speaker, an accredited master coach and can be reached through [email protected])