LEADING FOR TOMORROW

Mr. A Sundara Rajan

With the advent of the Internet, distances shrank and with the advent of social media, the clock has shrunk. Leaders are under more pressure to handle issues as they happen, manage teams across multiple geographies and do all these, more often under public glare and commentary. Add to this, the challenge of managing multiple generations of managers and staff. Today’s leader has to strike the right balance between letting go without losing control, build for size while remaining agile and flexible, and allowing the exuberance of youth to challenge without creating chaos. Leadership 24*7 may sound stretching it a bit, but for many a leader today, it is a reality. Here are a few ideas to shape your leadership style in today’s ever changing, chaotic environment

Be visible
The presence of a leader provides a huge boost to the team’s morale and their commitment to the common goal. A visible leader reinforces the leader’s messages. Visibility of a leader tends to positively impact the perceived approachability and helps ideas flow from people who are hands-on in business. More than in good times, a visible leader who is among people and sharing in action, makes a great impact during turbulent times. Using technology to be virtually present in every important event is critical. Visible leaders inspire their teams.

Leverage the power of praise

There is no greater a gift for any manager than a genuine praise from a leader. Talented leaders have always used this inexpensive form of motivation to charge up their teams. Despite knowing the power of praise, many a leader neglect to use it. When it comes to using this powerful morale booster, the rules are simple – be specific, be authentic, do it now and do it often, and see the magic.

Never be afraid to demand results

Most of us remember the tough teacher or coach more than the easy going ones, more so if they have been fair. Ever wondered why? They made us look good at the end of the term after all the hardships they put us through. As a leader, you have the responsibility to deliver the results, no matter what the environment is. While being popular is a nice feeling, be ready to demand results from your managers, despite the stress, it tends to bring along on both sides. It is better to be known as a leader who accomplished results, than a popular one who failed. After all, the buck stops with you.

Invest in future leaders
The greatest gift you can leave behind for your organization and team is to prepare them well to continue without you. Good leaders prepare their successors and train them enough to be self sufficient when the time comes. Some among today’s mid-level operational managers will be leading your organization tomorrow. Invest enough in training these executors of today to become strategic leaders of tomorrow, to gift a pipeline of leaders to your firm.

BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER WITH 360 DEGREE FEEDBACK - By Dr. Prakash Bhide

Dr. Prakash Bhide

1. Introduction

It is rare to get authentic feedback on individual leadership style, particularly at senior levels. It is seen that in Indian culture and ethos, neither subordinates nor peers or even bosses give negative feedback as they are afraid that it may upset the individual and they may spoil the interpersonal relationship. Subordinates have a dependency proneness and normally praise the BOSS or keep quiet on the negative aspects of leadership behaviors. Bosses also do not seek feedback as they feel that asking feedback is a sign of weakness. 360 degrees multi rater feedback is a powerful tool to give authentic and anonymous feedback to LEADERS.

2. 360 Degree Feedback

In 360 Degree feedback the individual leader is given feedback by people working closely with him/her – such as BOSS, PEERS and SUBORDINATES and sometimes significant customers. The 360 SURVEY has to be designed to have questions or statements to get focused feedback on specific aspects as per the survey objectives. Many times open-ended feedback on WHAT TO STOP DOING? WHAT TO CONTINUE DOING? WHAT TO START DOING? can provide rich insights for leaders. The survey is ONLINE and anonymous to get authentic feedback. Many companies initially use external consulting agencies to ensure and effectively manage the respondent’s perception that the feedback is really anonymous. Normally boss, 3 or 4 peers and 3 or 4 subordinates (total 8 to 9 respondents) are invited to give the feedback. It is a good practice to let the leader choose the respondents. This ensures that leader accepts the feedback more readily – both the positive and negative aspects.

The survey should be initiated after proper discussions with the leadership team and having a consensus. The CEO must also participate in the survey and get the feedback. This breaks down the resistance if any of the team members. It is reported that Kumar Mangalam Birla got his own 360 degree feedback from his subordinates before it was rolled out to his senior team members. In an organization, it is best to start with CEO and top management levels. This is then accepted more readily at lower levels. The survey and leader development is more effective if the leaders participate voluntarily rather than being forced into action. As they say, “YOU CAN TAKE A HORSE TO WATER BUT YOU CAN’T MAKE HIM DRINK.” Hence it is important for HR to convince and build consensus.