I spent most of my life as an individual contributor because I assumed, I would make a poor leader. Immaturity and Illiteracy on leading teams held me back for years. A turn of events made me question my belief system and I eventually landed a leadership role. My cultural background (I’m from India) is all about class systems and hierarchy. I’m wired to take for granted that people who work for me should listen to me, respect me, and trust me (among other expectations). I knew that was wrong and, determined to learn, I wandered through the world of books before I stumbled on the right material. (I will get into the “must reads” towards the end of this article.)
I spent the last few years reading about leadership and discovered qualities that I hadn’t heard about often. Not everybody is fortunate enough to learn by observing; good leaders are a rare commodity to find and learn from. When it comes to leadership, we talk a lot about execution and delivering results, which are outcomes and not necessarily the attributes of a leader. Obsessing about outcomes and power can lead to using people as a means to an end. There are many characteristics we seek in our leaders.
Allow me to elaborate on a few…
Humility – Understanding the difference between “doing right” and “being right” is key. Being humble is often misconstrued as lack of self-confidence. The way to recover from that is knowing that a leadership role has two important responsibilities: Culture and Execution. Execution is an outcome of good cultures. Culture is born out of vision and establishing values with your teams (notice I didn’t say “for”). I had to redefine my sense of worth from being someone who always thought I had the best solution to someone who helps brings out the best in the team. A better self comes only when you know your limitations and understand that imperfection is a reality; you have a team in part because you can’t do everything on your own. Choose to be a servant leader rather than a self-serving leader.
Empathy – Never lead with authority, lead with empathy. The command and control approach is one way to lead teams but it certainly isn’t the best, or only way. I often feared that being nice at work meant I wouldn’t be taken seriously. But this was just my fear. A culture of accountability can be created through deliberate and focused understanding. You can still be assertive when needed but be careful and honest with yourself that assertiveness is required and doesn’t become an easy excuse to fall back on bad habits. It takes practice to listen. Empathy connects people, which is critical to leadership. To inspire people, you need to know what motivates them. John Maxwell’s Five levels of Leadership is a must read for leaders to understand that connections are important, while also creating awareness that each individual is unique; communication is best when tailored to the individual.
Adaptability/Agility – Everybody loves consistency, but the only constant is change. Industry is continually evolving in a variety of areas. For example, the way we view data has changed. It is at the core of decision making in today’s world. Once upon a time, PayPal wasn’t received well by the industry and now e-payments are as common as breathing. If leaders don’t pivot and react to changes in the industry, then being strategic becomes difficult. In today’s day and age, strategic, tactical, or “mental” agility is one of the most important skill sets to have, but if not approached properly, can result in flakiness or unreliability. Finding the right balance between agility and consistency is key. Being in the financial industry and seeing how the last decade has changed the way we think about the customer’s money shows how organizations have to redefine strategies. As an example, the change to zero commission trading transformed the brokerage industry inside of 48 hours.
Resiliency – Setbacks are common. Human beings come with failures and frustrations. Are you becoming stronger with each setback? Do you have a growth mindset? I crippled myself with fear of failure before I learned about resiliency. Handling these situations with grace didn’t come naturally to me. Knowing that there are lessons in success and failure is key. It is also important to understand that neither success nor failure absolutely define a leader. It is the process or framework we use to arrive at decisions that we need to invest in. Our decisions don’t always lead to the best outcomes. Understanding the tradeoffs and being prepared for consequences is ideal. Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke is an amazing book to gain perspective on the decision-making process when we don’t have all the facts, which is what we face for most of our professional life.
Trust – Are you ready or capable of being vulnerable with your peers? With your superiors? With your subordinates? According to Brene Brown, Trust is a product of vulnerability that grows over time and requires work, attention, and full engagement. Trust is earned and not something you are entitled to since you are a leader (also see John Maxwell’s Five levels of Leadership above). Trust is a difficult thing to establish with people; it takes time. It goes without saying that transparency plays a big role in being able to establish trust. Dare to Lead by Brene Brown is an excellent read (also check out her TED talks on the power of vulnerability).
Audible makes it easy to read books anywhere. I rely on audio books quite a bit. A good book can help make the traffic tolerable. Leadership, like meditation, is a practice that gets better over time. As leaders, investing in “you” is one of the best gifts you can give yourself.
- H – Humility
- E – Empathy
- A – Agility/Adaptability
- R – Resiliency
- T – Trust
Do you know your leadership quotient?
Must Reads:
- The Five Habits of Highly Effective People
- Culture Code
- Dare to lead
- Leaders Eat Last
- Crucial Conversations
- Never Split the Difference
- Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Leadership Avenue 