“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. I guess not, when it comes to leadership. Or rather, when it comes to creating good leaders. It seems that many companies today are caught up in the classic argument of trying to define what leadership actually means. While some perceive it to be an in-born capability; others think that it is a ‘developed skill’. Hence, companies are trying to initiate programs to ‘develop’ leaders, while the truth is that they are just developing ‘managers’. Hence they are trapped in the evergreen debate of leaders vs managers.
According to me, a leader has a ‘larger-than-life’ vision of things, which comes about because of his far sightedness in life. He has the ability to see situations from a trend setters’ point of view and hence he can bring about radical changes in his environment. But the flip side is that because of this, many a times, such viewpoints seem threatening in the short time frame that most of us are used to seeing things in. Hence, many leaders do not instantly get a universal following for their ideas. But it is their people centric attitude, ability to take risks and the proactive attitude that ensures the buy-in of people during the course of the task. I define leadership as an amalgamation of the external environment (a combination of the enterprise, the society and the nation), the inner self (personality, religion, beliefs and spirituality) and values, culture and education (family background and upbringing). Hence, leadership is a highly personal trait rather than a developed capability. Training programs can at best, polish these skills.
I have always seen myself more as a leader than a manager. From my past experience and my MBTI, EQ, AQ, Leadership Inventory test, &^%$ WTF-test scores, I know that I have a mix of Coaching and Democratic leadership style. Over time, I discovered that this was due to some of my natural strengths – treating others with respect, developing good working relations and the ability to coach and mentor colleagues. I could achieve my goals in the past as I empowered and enabled others to act and also took to their issues as my own. This worked, as it gave freedom of thought and actions to my team. Following these, I believe I can make my team work effectively by helping them to incorporate diverse ideas, respecting individuals and by providing them an emotional cushion in times of stress.
However, I do recognize my weaknesses, or rather; development needs and wish to improve on them. For instance, I do realize that it is next to impossible to please everyone because each has a different level of expectation. I still get obsessed with trying to achieve something for everyone, which delays the results and in turn blankets positive results. I wish to tackle this by concentrating on achieving what will be the best for the majority and hence get it done faster. I also know that at times I excessively focus on details, which irritates some people. I want to master the 80:20 rule to control this habit of mine. In the process, I want to develop myself as a leader who can lead by example. If that means capitalizing on my strengths and toning down my weaknesses, I guess I will do that as well.