Don’t get caught up in the fads - stick to the fundamentals
Leadership development is all the rage these days : and rightly so. More than ever before, the
need for inspiring and effective leaders as role models is felt : within our families, in our societies, in our organisations and indeed, nations. The big ask however, is how to really ‘develop’ leaders. The perennial question still remains…. Are leaders born or made ? I have always argued that it is a bit of both - with one big caveat : do you want to be one in the first place ! See, more often that not, we confuse leadership with being a ‘boss’ or a ‘manager’ or a ‘captain’. For sure, these ‘titles’ require you to be a leader too - but wanting to be a captain (or a Manager) and wanting to truly be a leader are two very different ‘wants.’
Generally, wanting to ‘head’ something is a matter of ego - wanting to lead veers more towards wanting to serve - and be of service - irrespective of the title. This simple, yet important distinction is the starting point of developing leaders. Be able to SPOT those who want to be leaders…. How ? Here are three starting points :
1. Look out for those who unflinchingly help in a crisis - without any issue of who the credit goes
to
2. Look out for those who volunteer for difficult tasks without extra pay or resources
3. Look out for those who who own up to their mistakes and make the effort to correct them
Leadership is not about ego - or self preservation or even ambition : it is about wanting to serve
something beyond yourself. Best leaders are those who find great joy of seeing others succeed -
and they show this ‘trait’ through their behavior. Pick them up - because - without this - no
amount of development of other skills or competencies will help develop leaders : you will only
have brilliant managers - not leaders.
Once you have identified, BEFORE you spend time AND money on tons of leadership training and
coaching and retreats and learning interventions, do two very important things. Firstly, find
mentors (as opposed to coaches) who can help the youngster hone their technical and basic
managerial skills. Without being an effective person, leadership is often meaningless. Secondly,
ensure they perform in their chosen role/task. Without results, a leader often loses credibility.
ONCE these two aspects are covered, they are ready to be groomed and grown into more
meaningful and senior roles.
Many make the horrible mistake of ‘outsourcing’ leadership development to ‘trainers’ or
‘coaches.’ I often liken this to parents sending their kids to school and for all forms of extra
curricular activities, and wishing their children become good human beings. School and other
activities such as sports and drama and debating may well instil skills and competencies, but the baseline values and baseline discipline should ideally be taught at home first.
Ultimately, as a parent, the children are YOUR responsibility - the same is true for the young future leaders - they are YOUR responsibility and you cannot ‘delegate’ this responsibility to a trainer or a coach. Trainers and coaches are there to enhance specific skillsets and competencies only. This mindset is absolutely essential for you to truly develop leaders within the fold.
As much as training and coaching never forget the importance of exposure, leadership experience and peer learning. Leadership is a skill - it is more an art than a science in my book. Knowing ABOUT leadership can be done in the classroom - but to learn to BE a leader, you need to really put yourself through the motions. So, give possible future leaders little projects to lead, get them to take charge of key initiatives, get them to go to different industries and learn from them and come back and implement what they have seen. Also, get them to collaborate with other young leaders and do things together, and learn from each others’ innate expertise and skillsets. Far too often leaders fail to work with other leaders - which is a huge bone of contention these days….
Remember this too. Developing leaders take time. There really is no ‘quick fix’ for it. If you try
and ‘force’ this all you get is a ‘half baked’ leader - who actually is of no use to either themselves
or the organisation. Also remember that you cannot take a ‘one side fits all’ approach to
leadership development. Different leaders learn and assimilate skills differently. Make sure you
‘individualise’ your development plans as much as possible.
The other biggie to watch out for is this : don’t get swayed by the ‘flavours of the month.’ There
are a dime a dozen leadership fads out there - for one simple reason - leadership development is a multi billion dollar ‘business.’ Don’t fall pray to these fanciful marketing gimmicks. After all, if a one or two day training or a week’s retreat can actually develop leadership skills and
competencies don’t you honestly think the entire WOLRD will be a better place ? Fads come and
go, but the fundamentals and principles remain timeless and eternal…. So, focus on five things
that will not cost you any money FIRST :
1. Understanding the unique skills, competencies, strengths and weakness as well as
personalities of your future leaders.
2. Work on augmenting strengths - rather than focusing on ‘negatives.’ Remember - it is a lot
easier for your to grow a strength than overcome a weakness.
3. Work to find the right ‘fit’ for each individual based on their skills as well as their ‘aspirations’
and ‘likes’.
4. Offer mentors - offer on going feedback - offer on going support.
5. Give opportunities to demonstrate their skills and competencies. Create spaces for them to
grow in their leadership skills…
Developing leadership pipelines across the organisation is absolutely essential - and it is more
important than ever given the ‘great resignation.’ Unless you have leaders who can step in
whenever there is attrition, and if you rely solely on people being headhunted and brought in from outside it becomes ecoededinly difficult to create a cohesive and well knit team, and of course, culture. So, before you start looking for snazzy titled ‘Leadership Development Programs’ which are simply ‘events’ : get your basics done first…
Growing Leaders is far too important to be reduced to being a tick box exercise. It is also far too
complex to be addressed through a fancy training program !
(Based on the upcoming book ‘Growing Leaders - a Definitive Guide