Leadership is a Journey, not a Destination

A couple of my readers gave me feedback that my recent article, https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/leadership-call-serve-12-qualities-great-leaders-lancelot-cutinha-d9rkf/?trackingId=joeflvnQQmeDYmRSC3M4xA%3D%3D is a trifle utopian. One even quipped that it would require 12 leaders to exhibit the 12 qualities described in the article ??. My response is if a lot of people have this mindset, we run the risk of creating a society of too many bosses and too few leaders. We will have a crisis of leadership.

It is possible that you may not exhibit some of the leadership qualities or perhaps fall short on some of them, but it is never too late to fill the competency gaps. Ask your HR for a leadership coach, meet your mentor, attend a training programme, or carefully observe leaders who display the desired attributes, especially how they enact them. Leadership is a set of behaviours and honing them is a never-ending journey. Some of the attributes change with time. For example, empathy and humility were never emphasized two or three decades back.

Improving leadership skills requires commitment and deliberate practice. It also requires constant reflection since it entails behavioural changes. If you are older, it is difficult to change as rewiring the brain takes more time. You also need to take feedback off and on from some trusted team members to see how well you are doing.

Leadership isn’t easy. It never was and will never be. We have to shoulder leadership responsibilities, at least at home if not at work. Therefore, give it the importance that it deserves lest you are happy to play ‘boss’.