Digital Leadership - recognizing the hidden pillar in the age of fail fast- succeed early mode….

Being in the Digital age, each and every human being lives in a Glass house. This is no longer true only for celebrities. And this has become true for Sports, Work, life, home- across all aspects of living. We are lucky to witness a very powerful leadership lesson from Messi – Lesson to People who communicate team success.

‘Argentina versus Netherlands in the penalty kicks. The Argentina goalkeeper, Martinez (in red- see attached video), saves two penalties that give them an edge in the game. Then an Argentina player, Lautaro Martinez, scores the winning penalty. All the players rush to congratulate Lautaro for winning them the match. All but one player, Lionel Messi, The Captain, The Leader. He realizes, it was the role of the goalkeeper, without which they wouldn't have won. Messi rushes to celebrate with the goalkeeper.

There's a lesson somewhere to learn - Recognize the hidden pillar of your team’ (Source- unknown. Shared on whatsapp)

The biggest Leadership skill needed today is ability think to wholistically across 360o, and this has only increased in the Digital age. Many Leaders are over dependent on data, lack real world wisdom or exposed and accustomed to view a single side of world. Comprehending the real world is so very alien to many people. The erstwhile Sixth Sense, the value of intuition is becoming so prime a trait today, when the 3-dimensional changes are becoming a norm.

Unfortunately, the skill gaps to think, comprehend and make decisions is only widening in the hybrid or virtual living in the Metaverse world.

The fundamental elements of a winning formulae- What is working, Why is it work, How does it work and Who makes it work- are all so obvious. Every ‘Q’ here is extremely important, and when you don’t understand multiples or all, it is doomsday. And yet, we see Leaders missing these very key aspects of leadership. And they end up destroying years of hard work, sacrifices, dreams and accomplishments. The need to focus on soft skills, people skills, empathy etc are becoming ever so important, irrespective of the gender.

I have had opportunity to work in extremely fuzzy environments over the years. Many a times across my career, many of these ‘Q’ did not have answers. Thinking, planning, execution and achieving results were all driven with vague and little clarity. I specialize in Product managing Horizon 3 Projects and Programs. Product Managing Cloud in 2009, when Cloud was a part of H3 strategy, Innovation evangelism in 2008, GTM for Advanced Tech in 2011, driving technology innovation all had inherent feature of being characterized by fuzzy goals. Innovation life-cycle from idea to implement, from discovery to deployment are all areas where the unknowns thrive. It takes a different rhythm to be successful in such fuzzy worlds, and I enjoyed working in that world for over 15 years.

Skills and best practices I have relied onto that gave me the edge when leading Innovation ecosystems globally

• Being focused on the process rather than the person. Be it rewards, reprimands, mentoring, motivating, inspiring – across all scenarios
• Empathy – being in the present moment, driven by the situational awareness
• Knowing when to drive for results and when to build people
• Keeping the team together, at the same time compartmentalizing when there is a need to drive superlative results that need tough actions?
• Creating artificial pressure points to pump up the adrenaline, as and when needed
• Recognizing the hidden pillars in the organization - giving them an edge and creating an environment for them to thrive
• Eating together, regular team outings to resorts, fun, celebrations - be it birthdays or festivals, impromptu parties etc... all these go a long way in creating an environment where everyone enjoys working, when the environment is fuzzy and innovation primed