Leadership, and the art of being limitless

How easy is it to talk about leadership? Or how difficult, considering how it is defined, redefined and evaluated in so many different ways? In the current employment climate that we have so often been discussing in previous editions of this newsletter, the pandemic has challenged several pre-existing notions about work. People have experienced flexibility, for instance, during COVID, and a number of them are demanding the same flexibility even as the dark clouds of the pandemic lift and fly away (hopefully to never return, after all hope is the safest emotion that does not need a scientific validation!). Hence the moonlighting phenomenon, or even the persistent debate on remote working.

At the other extreme, look at how our societies are getting more and more isolated – thousands of friends and connections on social networks, and precious little connect with people in real life. The digital revolution has taken over our life experience. That has led people, according to industry watchers to in fact seek a lot more from work as opposed to a stable career, regular income growth and a generally pleasant atmosphere.

People want more meaning and purpose in their work environment, and much more deeper engagement with their co-workers as they expect work to compensate for what they are lacking in other aspects of their life. A 2020 McKinsey & Company survey confirmed this, revealing that around 82% of employees believed it’s important their company has a purpose; ideally, one that contributes to society, which gives them purpose as well.

Gartner has evolved a ‘Human Deal’ framework, which conceptualizes five areas where employees seek greater value from their place of work post-pandemic:

• Deeper connections. Feeling understood through family and community connections, not just work relationships.
• Radical flexibility. Feeling autonomous in all aspects of work, not just when and where it gets done.
• Personal growth. Feeling valued through growth as a person, not just as a professional.
• Holistic well-being. Feeling cared for by ensuring holistic well-being offerings are used, not just available.
• Shared purpose. Feeling invested in the organization by taking concrete action on purpose, not just through corporate statements.

That is surely a lot for employers to address, especially given the work pressure and the fast evolving business landscape that makes you feel perpetually in ‘almost catch up mode’. And leadership often looks more like an art than a science, since it has to adapt seamlessly to people, job roles and situations. Having said that, there are a few tenets I feel that leaders can follow tenaciously to build teams that stay together and also win together.

Purpose is not just about the company’s goals, but how you personally feel about your daily progress. Clear communication on expectations of each team member, how they should plan their week/month/year is of utmost importance to keep them on course. The adage of ‘goals on concrete, plans on sand’ is truer today than it ever was. New and sudden responsibilities and targets keep coming in, but having a ‘Plan A’ in advance is extremely important to go through your day/week/month/year with purpose.

In that case, disruptions may limit your ‘Plan A’ achievement to 60%, but without planning, it may be as low as 10-20%. Moreover, you will feel better and motivated if you measure your performance against a benchmark.

Encourage coopetition between team members. In marketing terminology, coopetition is a strategic approach that examines benefits if competitors cooperate to the benefit of all. The same needs to be explored within teams as well. Although each is striving to achieve certain targets, team members should be proactive in offering their assistance and respective expertise to each other.

Ideally this should not be a tick mark for performance evaluation. Team members should actually be able to understand that with coopetition, everyone wins. This enhances team collaboration, relationships and also encourages personal growth.

A culture of trust is quite underrated, even though companies talk about it often. You hire people because you trust their expertise. But are you able to trust their integrity? Or if it is in doubt, how do you judge? One of my previous bosses had this interesting approach – to start from a position of trust, and try to support and stand behind all team members to the extent possible. But you are very likely to have bad hires - it is a way of life. While this approach earns respect, it is important to simultaneously separate the good apples from the bad ones very early. The latter need to be warned, monitored very closely and if needed, removed from the system.

It takes a few people to make a big difference. Just like there will be some bad apples, you may be equally likely to find a few that are in the league of pure gold! Some workers do relate to and synch with a company’s vision, mission, culture and work environment more than the others. Mentor and guide them, give them responsibilities, encourage them to share their ideas and also the freedom to execute plans as per their best understanding and wisdom. They are plausibly the future leaders who can take up executive positions as your team grows.

Question your limitations, not just your strengths. And how difficult is that? Our Moral Science classes in school carried a lesson, “Pride comes before a fall.” And some story related to it that I do not exactly recall. But do we tend to confuse pride with self-belief, because I have seen few workers come up to say, “Yes this is up my street and I can do it!”

In the new organization, people need to be able to push beyond their skillsets and the perceptions of what they think they can and can do. Look at my blog on neuroplasticity for insights on why the brain is as limited, or unlimited as you think it is, and it is possible to rewire it and build new competencies. A leader today has to inculcate this belief in his/her best people in particular.

Be a support system, not a crutch. It is so important for leaders to provide his/her experience and expertise to guide teams to better performance. You also need to accept their failures to some extent. After all, there is no better learning than from failure.

But it is important to draw the line, and ensure that this support does not create irrational dependencies. That is neither good for you as a leader, nor for your team. You can fight their battles only in the initial phase, but they must know that they will have to fight their battles on their own ultimately.

At the close, I would like to mention an interesting post from Linda Goodman that I saw on LinkedIn some days back. Using the metaphor of a balloon and a cactus plant, it was commenting on the sad equation between employees and bureaucratic leadership. The balloon represents people with good ideas, and the cactus represents the bureaucracy that keeps bursting the balloon.

I made a comment on that, which perhaps defines leadership today in many ways. What if the leader himself/herself was the balloon and not the cactus? The workplace would be an altogether different ball game then wouldn’t it?