On Becoming a Better Person (Version) 2: Leadership Defined - Style, Approach and Outcome

This is my second instalment of writing on becoming a better person (version). In the previous article, I shared only my career journey. But from this article onwards, I shall present my in-depth learning on specific themes constructed based on my experience through the journey of my career. Note that I am not including my reflections in this article which are tools for the construction of the learning as the reflections are too personal for me to share publicly. This article provides the final product – my learning, and that’s why it is manifested in my behaviour as highlighted at the end of each section below.

I shall mention my definition of leadership and the explanation of the definition will include the discussions on the style, approach, and outcome of leadership. The style, approach, and outcome of the leadership are embedded in the definition of leadership below.

My definition of Leadership

My subjective learning (why learning is subjective is a topic of a future article of this series), ?leads to the following definition of leadership:

Leadership is intentional, planned and mindful acts and behaviours geared to achieve expected outcomes related to the growth and development of the members of the team while directing/co-directing the team to achieve co-determined/shared goals.

Let me explain each of the four highlighted terms used in the definition above.

1. Intentional

Leadership is intentional. Only when a person realizes and sees him/herself as a leader, only then the leadership act/behaviour starts. The reason is the person will feel responsible for others and the goals only if there is an acknowledgement and understanding on the part of the person that he/she is a leader and is responsible for others or goals, and that’s why he or she should take steps or actions to act/behave as a leader. If a person is not ready to act or behave as a leader it means he or she may not care much about others or goals. The corollary to this statement is that anyone who cares about others or goals is a leader. I have seen in my career students in a classroom becoming a leader, faculty members teaching students like a leader, heads of departments being a leader, and at the same time, persons in the same roles working/studying without being a leader too. So leadership is intentional as it is the perception of the self and responsibilities which emerge with that perception that makes one leader.

It implies that anyone working with others for achieving a goal can be a leader. It can be a student, a parent, a group of children rehearsing for a play, a fresh executive even on the first day of the job, or a CEO of a company.

My behaviour: I always identify myself as an intentional leader in all the work I do with others, or for achieving goals. (Value)

2. Planned and mindful acts and behaviours

In some instances, we may often observe, due to the wrong conception about a leader, like some persons trying to act like a leader by just showing off their knowledge, skills or capabilities, but their motives are not governed by the responsibility for others or goals. Therefore, in such situations, there is a need to determine if it’s a leadership act or a show-off by the person. If it is a show-off, the acts by the person will not be well planned and mindful. The person will try to ‘push’ his or her agenda only and will not listen to or be sensitive to others, their feelings, needs, or goals. The person may go off-track during the meetings/discussions and will divert the team. It happens in classrooms when a particular or set of some students try to hijack the discussion without listening properly, or an executive in a meeting ‘forces’ everyone to accept his or her suggestions or views, or a parent abuses the child while showing off his or her power, skill, or knowledge through mindless acts.

A planned and mindful set of acts will always lead to specific ‘leadership’ behaviours. And if it is intentional, the person always is mindful of his or her words, body language, tone, attitude, volume of voice, speed of talking, and overall behaviour during the interactions with others. If one is observant enough, it is very easy to identify the persons in a meeting who are acting mindfully, listening to others, asking appropriate questions to understand or analyse or making others think. At the same time it is also easy to see often, the official designated ‘so-called leaders’ in a team who fail to act mindfully as they shout, blame others, demand explanations, and pass judgements.

Leaders will always plan after thinking through before interacting with others as they remain aware of the impact of their actions and behaviours. The moments of leaders interacting/working with others often become a step/process for the team that facilitates the achievement of the goals. Of course due to the intention as discussed in the previous section, practising planned and mindful acts can lead to the development of behaviours of leadership in the team. Leadership is a journey of constant planning and commitment with the team to achieve the goals mindfully.

My behaviour: I strive to plan and be mindful while working with others or for goals as a leader. (Style)

3. Growth and development of the members

As leadership is intentional, it must be geared towards some expected outcomes. Many leaders have expected outcomes for themselves, others, teams, and for the Institutional goals. In the definition of leadership mentioned above, “the acts and behaviours of the leader geared to achieve expected outcomes related to the growth and development of the members of the team…”, the expected outcome is the growth and development of the team members. This outcome results in the transformation of team members into leaders. When a leader’s acts result in the transformation of others, the result is the creation of other leaders in the team. This is possible using a combination of mentoring and coaching. Mentoring is needed if a team member has limited experience and some direction and assistance are needed for the member. Coaching is effective when the member is mature enough to find his or her solutions and development path with the leader’s subtle guidance. It entails regular one on one meetings, discussions about personal and professional affairs, philosophical orientations etc with the team members. A typical coachee and coach relationship is also developed with most of the team members. Such relationship results in the construction of meaningful learning for both - the leader and the team members.

One particular aspect of leadership that influenced me is the concept of cycles of mediocrity and excellence as enumerated in the book “The Self Evolved Leader” by Dave McKeown. A leader when tries to solve all the problems on his/her own and does not provide the opportunities to the team to do so, a cycle of mediocrity is developed in the organization. Such a leader becomes a “heroic” leader but fuels the cycle of mediocrity by creating a culture of helplessness in the team and the team always remain dependent on the leader. As opposed to this approach of the heroic leader, a leader who encourages, empowers, and trust the team members while providing coaching and support, creates a sustainable organization with a cycle of excellence. I have found that leaders act as heroic leaders not only because they want to be a hero, but majorly because of the lack of trust in team members’ competence and potential. At the same time, the leaders who fuel the cycle of excellence can gradually develop a culture of trust, respect and empowerment in the team, and ultimately the team transforms into multiple leaders working together with initiatives to leapfrog the organization to accelerated success.

My behaviour: My acts and behaviours as a leader are geared to create other leaders in the team to develop and fuel a cycle of excellence. (Approach)

4. Directing/co-directing the team to achieve co-determined/shared goals.

Is it the leader who always leads and directs the team? Or a leader sometimes is also a follower? In my experience, I have learned that unless a person is not a good follower, he or she cannot be a good leader. Following does not mean being a “Yes Man” or blindly following the seniors. Following means respecting the viewpoints of others – who may be a senior or junior, agreeing to his/her views and plans, if the views and plans appear effective, and agreeing to work accordingly with full commitment to realize the goals as a team member. It is not a must that only a leader provides plans and directions all the time. A leader is also a team member and must act like one,

I have invented a term called “folleading”. This term symbolizes the gracious dance that is done by the leader and the team member where they sometimes follow and other times lead each other. Such a dance is possible only when the leader and team members are perceived as equals. When such sync and coordination are developed in a team, the team is bound to be successful. There are some pre-requisites to “folleading”.

The first pre-requisite is the perception and confidence of the team member that he or she can also lead. This feeling helps in strengthening the “intentional” leading by the team member, and thus “intentional” following by the leader. The leader needs to recognize and acknowledge the team members’ lead, give credit, and when appropriate provide support in form of suggestions to enhance the effectiveness.

The second prerequisite: In case the outcome of a task led by a team member is a success, the leader needs to give full credit to the team member, and in case of failure/delays/mishaps, the leader needs to own it himself/herself by taking the responsibility, thus providing a safe environment to the team. This kind of working together results in co-directing.

The third pre-requisite is to note when the leader can provide suggestions to the team member to improve the effectiveness of a task led by a team member, the leader needs to openly and wholeheartedly accept such suggestions from the team members led by himself/herself.

When co-directing is built in the culture of the team, the co-determination of goals is possible and goals are shared and owned by the team. I have noticed that some organizations claim that they have shared goals, but if they lack a co-directing way of working – an operationalization of “folleading”, it sounds just a gimmick. The ways to develop shared goals and work together in teams to achieve shared goals are some points to be discussed - perhaps in my next article.

My behaviour: I strive to co-direct the team and follow the members to practice “FOLLEADING” to co-determine and achieve the shared goals. (Outcome)

At the end of this article, my concluding comments are:

If you are a leader, it is important to know the views and feelings of the team members. The following set of questions to ask others and to reflect have always helped me:

A. How do the team members feel and think about me as a leader?

B. What do they feel about themselves and how do they see themselves in the team with me as a leader?

The following answers may help in reflection:

If the team members feel and regard you as a leader, and if they feel great and positive about themselves and see themselves growing and learning with you in the team, it means you are becoming a successful leader.

Please feel free to share your views on the article. Your comments and feedback will be appreciated.

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