Having worked with diverse leaders across sectors and industries, I have come to see two types of leaders playing out in organizations. The first are leaders who understand that the essence of leadership is to crystallize results, while the second are leaders who see leadership more from the authority side of it.
The first foundation to build as a leader who truly wants to succeed in his or her organization is to see leadership as someone who has results to show for the exalted position. The kinds of quality results we deliver for the organization especially in difficult times and not the quantum of power or authority that we can exercise is what can make us a successful leader.
I agree that every organization has its own unique issues that will usually impede growth and performance, but my concern is how leaders are dealing with those issues. When there are issues to surmount, often times most leaders are tempted to focus on areas that are visible to the eyes, (drawing analogy from the Iceberg Change Theorem), and forgetting that the things below the sea level are the things that will actually sink the ship of any organization.
One of the deepest things below the organizational sea level that can sink the ship of any organization is culture. Very truly, culture is so strong that when “Strategy and Culture” fight, culture wins all the time. This means culture is stronger than strategy. This explains why several strategic initiatives, change initiatives, restructuring and re-engineering do not deliver the desired results, and such organizations can never become world-class companies. By world class company, I mean one that constantly pursues business excellence, and sadly, no leader (regardless of his or her education, experience, exposure and skills) will ever achieve business excellence without a vibrant, aligned and supportive culture.
I have been asked severally, how do we begin the journey of building the right culture? Although sometimes, I jokingly say that the CEO is the culture custodian, but that also is very true and this means leadership has a big role to play in the culture journey. A very practical thing I have advised CEOs overtime is to deliberately make their organizations’ core value (social glue) the driver and guide of every one’s behaviour in the organization. To me one of the signs that a CEO is really desirous in building the right culture is to show example by institutionalizing this core values in his or her day to day’s activities and in that of their senior management, and eventually a new culture in line with your organization’s vision will emerge.
Every leader that would succeed will do that through their people. Without the people, there would be no foundation for leadership success. This is why is it imperative that CEOs and senior management must win the trust, heart, mind and soul of their people who will actually run with the vision of the organization. One way leaders flub in this area is by practicing what we call D.A.D syndrome. This means when leaders DECIDE solely on their own on what to do, ANNOUNCE it and Defending it. Most times this approach will hit a brick wall. Let your approach be a Parallel Involvement Process, where the key people are involved in decisions that affect them prior before a final decision is being taken. Remember people support what they help create. Importantly, great leaders lead with people and not over people. That means they engage their people to deliver desired results.
Given your position as the CEO, I believe it is always easier for you and other senior management to see the big picture meanwhile majority of other employees may not. To succeed as a leader, the CEO’s must literally get everyone in the organization on a “helicopter” ride 5000 feet above the sea level so that everyone will see the big picture. If they can see and understand the big picture, running with it is much easier.
To deepen your foundation for leadership success the more, always encourage your executives, senior management and managers to communicate in a way that will encourage ownership mentality across board. This will be achieved when they are open, honest, robust and importantly transparent. The lack of open, honest, robust, and transparent communication creates a void that fills up with the fear, rumor mongering, politics, and finger pointing that destroy morale and productivity- and I know that no CEO would want to see that happen in his or her organization.
Always remember, as a leader, regardless of your expertise, experience and exposure you won’t function alone. You will need others. Your best approach in this area will be to create a culture of interdependence among your people, and let them know that no one can succeed in isolation. This is very critical and also a way to discourage silo mentality across board.
Based on my experience training leaders, I have realized that one of the major reason some leaders do not do well is because they are more passionate about leadership as opposed to leading. To succeed more in these difficult times, every leader need to be more passionate about leading and less passionate about leadership, because leadership is all about doing and not position, title or status. The result you will desire this year will only come by leading and not as a leader.
Finally, untrustworthy leaders find it extremely difficult to succeed. Be trustworthy as a leader. And that comes from delivering on your commitment and being straightforward, being honest, authentic and transparent. That’s how you build a reservoir of trust.
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Uju Onwuzulike
