9 minute read
l eader S h I p
Dr M Muneer
What should you glean from leadership training?
It's easy for those in the leadership seat to think they're on top of everything – but they still need to keep themselves up to date! Here are some pointers on what leaders should target when they skill themselves
Two traits of Indian CEOs and senior executives always astonish me whenever we plan a thought leadership event for them. The first is that most of them think they know a topic well by just having seen a short video of it in YouTube – be it Balanced Scorecard, Discovery Driven Planning or Theory of Constraints. The second is that they want to know who else will be attending the event, wondering if people of similar stature are coming, in the absence of which, they will be construed as not knowing the topic! Learning is not the priority, it seems.
Do Indian business leaders think they don’t need to learn any new skills now that they have reached their level? My friend and our non-profit venture mentor, the late President Kalam used to agree with my view: They probably think no one could be qualified to teach them!
Unfortunately this kind of thinking will lead them to the pinnacle – not of efficiency – but of their inefficiency. Every leader, no matter of what level, absolutely needs to hone their skills, and all the more so as corporate learning systems lag behind the speed of business. The pandemic has proven that beyond doubt. In the post-pandemic business world, you cannot succeed without new skills.
In a recent article in this magazine with my esteemed colleague from Stanford, Dr Jeff Pfeffer, we had established why truth is a must for leadership programmes to stick, and not mere motivational or inspirational speeches.
Here in this article, I want to point out a few leadership skills one must acquire from any leadership training.
What's the big deal with leadership training?
Leadership training is a multi billion-dollar industry globally, and yet most of the programmes on the market fail to deliver the essential leadership skills desired. Enterprises routinely seek outside help to hone up the leadership skills of their employees at different levels. In fact, if you want to get noticed for a promotion to a higher role, you should have shown some traits of leadership skills at your current position. And, what is a better way than taking a good leadership training course to find out what skills you will need?
Newly minted managers will require a wide range of skills to motivate and manage their teams, yet these skills are seldom if ever taught well in business schools. Furthermore, these skills are not uniform. Each of us needs to discover our unique leadership style to effectively align with the organisation we lead and to manage leaders who have varied leadership styles.
On top of this, we must remain up to date with the needs of the day. For instance, recent tectonic shifts in businesses have brought back some new aspects of leadership that were not prominent till recently: for instance, knowledge of psychology, understanding of well-being, and empathy.
And finally, let us not forget the need to set a good example. A larger ethical issue amongst Indian business and political leaders is that they don’t walk the talk – but they expect others to do it. For example, you cannot ask your followers to use Indian-made products (even if substandard), while using high-end imported items for your own personal use. Charity begins at home, as the saying goes, but alas, not many leaders follow that.
What should one aim to get out of training?
Whichever trainer or training modules you use to acquire new leadership skills, there are a few things you need to glean from it in order to ensure that you get proper returns on your investment of time and money.
First and foremost, find out your leadership style, or if you already know that, learn
how to improve it further. Find out what defines you as a leader. There are thirteen or so leadership styles defined by some institutions ranging from autocratic to visionary (autocratic or authoritative, affiliative, bureaucratic, coaching, democratic or facilitative, delegative, emergent, pace-setting, servant, strategic, transactional, transformational and visionary) that cover pretty much all types in existence. Where do you fit in?
While there is no one style that
A good leadership skill is to identify the conflict and have the foresight to resolve it early. Good leadership training should teach how to do this well, but what’s alarming is that over 60% of managers have never received adequate training in this area
will guarantee success in isolation, depending on the organisation, teams and the situation, different leadership styles will find the desired results. However, I can bet 70% of leaders don’t really know what style they have. Within the same organisation, leadership team members will have very different styles. That’s the best example of diversity bringing success. Different styles will be needed for specific situations. Getting to know your leadership style early will help to build on it further for driving results for your role.
Second, acquire the ability to manage uncomfortable
discussions. From firing someone to confronting someone highly political within the organisation, leaders have the toughest test in confronting and managing uncomfortable discussions. Such situations are hard mainly because there is conflict or some sort of misalignment. Avoiding such discussions will normally backfire. A good programme would help you with the right resources to address this critical task. The idea is to have a rational conversation, nurture empathy, use critical thinking and manage emotions to solve the problem in a creative manner.
Third is a related area –
conflict management. The American Management Association says, on an average, 24% of a manager’s time is spent on managing conflicts. Any area of business can cause a conflict that can disrupt normal work – and it is not just confined to workplaces. A good leadership skill
is to identify the conflict and have the foresight to resolve it early. Good leadership training should teach how to do this well, but what’s alarming is that over 60% of managers have never received adequate training in this area. Ask yourself: have you been trained to handle conflicts at work?
Fourth is the skill of building relationships within the
team. A Jack Welch may say he need not be loved within GE, but great teams need an engaging leader who has the ability to build working relationships. Teams with good employee engagement have 43% fewer quality defects and 37% less absenteeism. A leader can learn how to share more of self during meetings such as stories of relevant anecdotes from the past, how to really say thank you or hold team building workshops, for instance.
Fifth is something the pandemic has brought to prominence: Being agile and adapt-
ive. If leaders need one critical thing for the future of work, it is the ability to quickly manage change. A good example is how some companies had quickly mitigated the harsh effects of lockdowns. Being roughly right but fast to act, instead of precise and slow is the new mantra. Ask for resources to help you step out of your comfort zone to make quick decisions, to take responsibility for change, and to walk the talk on agility.
Finally, learn to build
mental safety. There are many more essential skills that can be acquired from a leadership training programme but this last one is critical in today’s workplaces, where well being is a major demand by the Generation-Z workforce. Building mental safety is a skill every leader must have in his or her toolbox. Minimising management toxicity at workplaces and building a positive and safe environment for all team members are essential for success. Only with this can leaders build an environment for employees to thrive, learn, contribute and challenge.
MunEER is the co-founder and chief evangelist at the non-profit Medici Institute. Tweet him @MuneerMuh
9-5 jobs might be the baseline, but they are no longer the expected norm; the new world of work is open to a far greater variety of arrangements
The technology-powered gig economy brought back a whole slew of casual working arrangements that were once common before industrialisation made nine-to-five hours the norm – work flexibly and only at the times when you are ready to work, work only to earn as much as you need, independently choose the tasks that suit you best. While those arrangements had their own pros and cons, many people found them beneficial enough that the gig economy gained broad-based appeal to many workers.
Incorporating these varied work setups into formal organisational processes has taken longer, though. For example, gig workers had very little legislated support until recently; freelance workers are still often at a disadvantage in contractual disputes with their employers; and even in today’s pro-hybrid environment, organisations are still seldom open to part-time work above the most basic functions or extended forms of flexibility such as the four-day week.
That said, the pandemic made different working arrangements more of a necessity than an unusual option. And even now that economies are reopening, the idea lingers that non-standard arrangements are not just workable, but beneficial, especially in the present environment of skill shortages and talent attrition.
One immediate question then is: what arrangements are suitable for the new world of work? How would these make an organisation more attractive as an employer? Two demographics are of particular interest here: next-generation talent who are keen on flexibility and highly accepting of unorthodox working arrangements, and those who may have reached a life stage where they hope for the space to give their personal and family life as much attention as their work. What can organisations implement to better meet their needs?
Following on that is the question of how organisations can carry out that implementation. It is a multi-function task, even if done only in a single department. Processes will have to be overhauled – pay, performance, administration, even simple things like attendance. Digital systems may have to be changed; office setups may have to be reviewed. And of course, culture and mindsets will have to be brought up to date with these changes even before the organisation can begin. It’s a double question: what practicalities need to be attended to, and how can the changes be best managed?
In this month’s cover story, we explore how widespread new work arrangements have become and the prospects for their gaining further traction. We look into issues of implementation and change management, and consider the impact on engagement and employer branding, among other aspects of work.
