Developing Leaders for success (and failure)

In a fast-paced digital age, we look at the non-digital human face which is behind the digital world

Today for HR Business partners across all spectrums one key issue is right people in the right place and at the right time. And this becomes much more significant and with far-reaching impact when it comes to assigning people to Leadership roles. 

In an increasingly globalized world, Leaders are expected to be omniscient, and omnipotent. Omnipresence is considered an additional advantage. Insiders expect them to quickly don the mantle of demigods while outsiders hail their arrival as messiahs - one with a cure for all ills. And here lies a huge performance challenge on the shoulders of Leader - who need to deliver - 24X7 - with zero tolerance for their own as well as other's mistakes. 

The question is have you trained your ever Successful and ever winning Leaders to handle that one - off but devastating Failure? 

A story often narrated by one of our senior managers to all our new campus recruits is in order. The anecdote - a real-life incident from his personal life - is about the boy who always topped in the class. Always stood first. All through his Academic Career. Entered the best of the Engineering Colleges (IIT). Went to the best Management Schools (IIM). Secured the best possible job (highest paying amongst his peers). Got the best from everything he did. So our winner all the way, chances upon his lady love and after a brief romance just as one random chance brought them together another random chance got them separated through rejection. Our winner - now a losing hero - is not able to cope with this failure, and as an antidote takes the Suicide pill. Yes, he kills himself.

The first strike of failure so powerful, so overwhelming, so unexpected, so devastating that it takes away everything. All your top of the class performance is brought to a nought with a single "NO". A potential Leader lost to a single NO. A quick analysis will yield several answers, but in essence, they will all underline only one thing: Inability and Incompetence to handle failure.

Because there is always one "somebody" who is smarter than you, more intelligent than you, more powerful than you, better placed than you, everything that you could possibly be, but just a little more. The fact that you have not met him or her so far does not exclude the possibility that your paths won't cross. Indeed, the probability of failure is as much high if not higher than the probability of success. And this should be warning enough.

How would you deal with your potential nemesis? 

There are hundreds of research study, L&D programs, Coaching programs, mentoring programs, et cetera available which shows what a Leader can do, must do and continue doing consistently to be successful and remain in a leadership position. There are plenty programs and aides, which deals with post-mortems of failed leadership and advises on how to avoid those missteps. But in an increasingly complex, fast-paced and digitized world, you, for sure, have not been able to capture every conceivable trap and devised a way for avoiding them. You are more likely to meet a surprise, an unforeseen move from the competition, from the market, from the customer, from the Government, from an unexpected quarter, which can in no time, might find you staring at inevitable failure. How do you deal with it and move on, without losing momentum? Live today, to fight another day.

A Professor at a very prestigious management institute had once mentioned to me in connection with how the institute chooses its potential Professors. One key aspect that they look at before they interview any potential candidate is Academic Results. What they look for is an academic failure at some point. Candidates who have throughout their academic career been all "Go" and no "Stops" are surprisingly NOT THEIR FIRST OR OBVIOUS choice.

Their rationale is well explained: that only failure makes you take a harder look, make complex things simple, and find a different path (and at times an easier path) to reach the same destination. 

This is where L&D can play a crucial role in helping Leaders to regain and retain their human demeanour. Developing Leaders who can handle success along with Failure.