Leading from the Back and Leading from the front

?Leadership Lesson 9

Leadership is not merely leading from the front. There are those with leadership qualities who lead from the back or who can lead from the side.

There are different skill sets and attitudes required to lead from the front, lead from the back and lead from sideways.

An active and effective organisation requires multiple levels and multiple modes of leadership at various levels at various points in time. Great and sustainable organizations are built on multiple models of leadership. Great organizations are not merely led by one charismatic leader who leads from the front.

Leadership at multiple levels and modes of spaces require a lots of trust, confidence and ability to create spaces for everyone to use their creativity, talents and power. Leading the leaders require a very different mode of leadership quality and style.

In big organizations with tens of thousands or hundred thousand staff and millions or billions budget require multiple levels of leadership and multiple levels of management. Leading a group or more leaders require a very different approach. Here one needs to be a facilitator by listening, learning and bringing together towards a shared sense of mission. When we need to lead many leaders, it is important to give each of the leader space to express, space to use their creative, space to contribute and space to grow within the organization. A leader of leaders does not necessarily need to lead from the front. It is possible to also lead from the back or lead from the side.

Every human being has a power- need. Because power is a dynamics of human relations that give them an internal sense of self-worth as well their influence in a social context. Human beings always exercise power in relation to others. Power, in different forms are exercised in kitchen, dining room, bed room or board room or office spaces..

Empowered leaders have a confidence to make choices and manage resources that help others to seek their support. Identifying the power -needs of your colleagues or partner and creating enabling space for them to exercise their leadership is a sign of confidant leaders.

In any sustainable and effective organisation, there has to be multiple arena of autonomous decision making, ability to raise and use resources and ability to exercise power.

Human beings don't live by bread alone. They live by a sense of power, words and deeds as well as legitimacy and recognition that could influence other human beings. It is this sense of internalized sense of power, dignity and belonging and social legitimacy that make people empowered.

An empowered and effective leadership also induce an organization of empowered people. Only those with leadership of empowerment can make an empowered leadership. They play an enabling, educative and empowering role to make people empowered, energized and empathetic.

They create spaces where others with leadership qualities can emerge. Those with empowered leadership qualities and internal sense of confidence will always nurture spaces for new leadership to bloom. That is how they move in to higher forms of leadership. Smart leaders are confidant enough to nurture people smarter than them.

Those with higher forms of leadership qualities can lead from the front, lead from the back and lead from the sideways. They will also know how to manage power relation vertically, horizontally and in cyclical and linear modes.

Only those with experience , empathy and expertise of skills in leadership in various arena will have the ability to lead from the front end and back end, from the bottom and top and from the sideways.

That is why those with grassroots leadership experience or leadership skills at the shop floor will know the mood of the organisation and pulse of the people instinctively and their intuitive knowledge of the organisation is great for them to get a sense of the mood. They will able to sense a risk or threat faster and they can see beyond the horizon that most can't see.

Those who are only used to lead from the top or front may not know the minefields below the earth, or the arrows from the back or boomerang from the side.

Those who emerge through experience and people skills can smell opportunities and threats. They can read the writing on the wall faster .

Those with higher leadership qualities will never be insulated from the external and internal context of an organization by sooth -Sayers or coterie.

During crisis or difficult situation, a good leader may lead from the front, managing crisis and risks, in collaboration with leaders. Crisis management may require leading from the front to protect the organization, protect your team of leaders and secure the future of the organization.

But when organization is stable and thriving, it is possible to lead from back providing opportunities and space for other leaders in your team to take more responsibility and nurturing them in to active leadership role. Great leaders always nurture more leaders within the organization and beyond. Secure leaders will be able to trust your colleagues. When you trust you colleagues, they will trust you as well. Leading from the back and side also provide opportunities for other leaders to grow within the organization. When there is a strong second and third tier leadership in an organization, the organization will be more resilient in crisis and will thrive and grow. However, any organization with only maximum leader will collapse when a larger crisis looms on the organization. An organization with collective leadership will have collective experience, collective wisdom and collective ownership to fight any crisis on the way.

(To be continued)