Leadership Dilemma--"To be or not to be"!!

Dr.Parag Amin

Few days back, while reading an article by Mr.Shiv.Shivkumar on Linkedin, one particular line caught my attention. It said ,'Cut your losses because of bad bosses or bad organizations"!! My mind immediately wandered to several experiences I have personally had as well as the experiences of some of my close friends, most of which related to what Mr.Shivkumar suggested. That article very clearly emphasized the importance of knowing whether one is in a "loss making" situation or not and then taking appropriate "action" immediately. After contemplating for long , I decided to pen my thoughts. These are based on several interactions I had with leaders , aspiring leaders , middle level executives, academicians , etc. in due course of training's I conducted on topics ranging from Communication to Leadership.

We know that in every and any organization, practically everyone wants to be "important"! This is quite "human" and I see nothing wrong in it. Different people try to be "important" in different ways (I intend to write about "Ways of becoming important" soon!!) !! Then there are those who actually work and those who simply take the "credit"!! Infact, some people have mastered the art of stealing someone else's credit. However, one pertinent point to note here is that not everyone who is "important" (or wants to be important) is actually ready to take the responsibility and ownership. Also, not everyone perhaps has the necessary Experience, Skill and Vision for a leadership position. I personally believe that any leader must necessarily possess these 4 things- Vision, Energy, Responsibility and Ownership (VERO). These 4 factors mixed with necessary Experience and Skills make a great leader.Wisdom, Temperament and Maturity comes from Experience.

Now the question is do organizations really look at these factors while selecting people for leadership positions? One of the most common methods of selection/election in our part of the world is "seniority!! This method has good chances of failure as only "seniority" does not guarantee Vision, Energy and Ownership! There is a serious dearth of 2nd line leaders as most organizations do not have a clear policy of identifying and grooming 'next-in-line" leaders. (Even if some have, those policies are largely on paper and not in practice!). One of the main reasons for this could be the unwillingness of the current leader/management to create next in line!! This unwillingness may be due to a feeling of being "eternal" (due to empowerment she/he enjoys) or due to insecurity or comfort level (of management). One of the key reasons for this insecurity is that leaders have , for some reason, got themselves to be identified by the position they carry and they fear losing this identity!! Moreover, in view of the stiff competition and high aspirations, no one would like to create a competition for oneself!! Another dangerous possibility is that "favoritism" exists in several organizations. This leads to identifying "next-in-line" leader/s who may not be possessing necessary attributes, but get projected by their leader for reasons best known to them. This can prove to be very lethal to the organization both in short and long term. There may also have been cases of deliberately identifying a "weak" candidate, who can or will never pose a challenge to the present leader!!

This has resulted in many deserving candidates simply getting worn out, frustrated and maybe even leaving their respective organizations or retiring to the reality and then continuing their existence by simply doing what is absolutely necessary for survival. The debatable question is, "Who is the loser? Organization or the individual?". Organizations, thus, need to have an inbuilt mechanism of identifying such VERO's possessing necessary experience (demonstrated) and skills and start trusting them with leadership positions as a part of their grooming. Organizations , I am sure, understand that this grooming has to happen "on the job"; i.e. by making the person sit "on fire"!! It is wrong to assume that the person may learn or may be groomed by putting her/him on the sidelines of the fire as an "observer".

I have known several VEROs with experience and skills who are waiting on the sidelines watching the fire burn. Most of them, perhaps have great solutions to douse the fire. Most of them have the necessary fuel to take their organizations to a higher orbit. They are full of enthusiasm, energy and a spirit of wanting to do something great for their organization. Some of them have, time and again, communicated their readiness and willingness to be groomed as "leaders in waiting". In few cases, organizations have responded positively, while in most cases, the words fell on deaf ears!! The question is who blinks (burns!) first.....organization or these hapless VEROS!! This has to be a timely decision . I strongly feel that the loss of the organization in such cases is much greater than that of an individual. In today's world, it is difficult to get VEROS with other necessary attributes, who are ready to say and stand by "I do"!! Afterall, we know that "Justice delayed is justice denied"!! Similarly, if we do not act in a timely manner, any belated action may not work in the favor of both the organization and the individual.