LEADERSHIP IS LIKE A SCALPEL: IN WHOSE HANDS?

A scalpel is a very powerful tool.

In the hands of a competent doctor, it is a tool for healing and for putting smiles back on the faces of the patient and the families represented by the patient; but in the hands of an incompetent doctor, it will only cause sorrow and pain and become a tool for destruction. And if, by chance, the scalpel finds its way into the hands of a criminal, the instrument will instill fear, misery, and ultimately, death.

The problem, therefore, is not the scalpel but “in whose hands”?

Same with Leadership. It is like the scalpel, a very powerful tool. It can be a tool for good or a tool for destruction. In the hands of the right leader, it creates thriving enterprises, attracts investments, spurs economic growth, and positions the organisation to continue to succeed into the future. But in the hands of an incompetent leader or a criminal, it steals people’s hopes, kills the dreams of millions, and destroys future generations; thriving enterprises grind to a halt, unemployment skyrockets, careers are wasted, institutions rot and decay, and once-great organisations become also-rans and confined to the ash heap of history.

To ensure that the scalpel of leadership finds its way into the right hands is perhaps the greatest responsibility before any generation, society or organisation as outcomes are ultimately determined by the person holding the leadership scalpel.

Curiously, the outcome of a scalpel in the hands of a criminal is no different from the outcome in the hands of an incompetent doctor: “death”. So, what is the difference between an incompetent doctor and a criminal?

The motive!

An incompetent doctor does not set out to kill, unlike the criminal. However, the outcome is the same. The incompetent doctor might be nice, kind and gentle, but he cannot govern, lead his team or organisation to achieve the results expected of him. In that regard, an incompetent doctor is no better than a criminal!

The lesson is obvious: leadership is not about being nice. It is ensuring that positive outcomes are delivered through one’s intervention without instilling fear into your people.

The universal question that separates competent doctors from incompetent doctors and criminals is: Did the patient recover or become better?

In the same manner, the universal outcome that separates competent leaders from incompetent leaders and criminals is: RESULTS!

Ultimately, leaders are judged by the results they achieve for their constituents:

·        Did they make the lives of their constituents better?

·        Did they make the nation or their states better?

·        Is the organisation becoming better?

·        Is the division, branch or team, improving?

Without improvement, wearing a white coat doesn’t mean anything to the patient and his family, just like having titles mean little or nothing to constituents without tangible improvements in their economic states.

Doctors are admonished to "First, do no harm." That is, if you cannot help, if you cannot make the patient better, then by all means do not make him/her worse.

The same admonition applies to leaders: First, “do no harm” to the people you are meant to lead. If you cannot improve their economic conditions, do not worsen it.

If you cannot make your team better, don't make it worse.

If you cannot create wealth, don’t destroy value.

In my London Business School’s Sloan Fellowship programme in leadership and strategy, my finance professor reminded us of Warren Buffet’s two principles given as yearly advice to his CEOs:

• First, do not destroy value;
• Second, remember the first advice.

In like manner, I say to leaders, do not destroy value or destroy lives.

And if you forget everything else I have written, do not forget this: leadership is like a scalpel. Ensure it is in the right hands!

I am Dr Maxwell Ubah; I help leaders make their teams and organisations BETTER!