>> MIM Speaks
THE MAKING OF A GOOD LEADER
OCT 13, 1996 -
NEW STRAITS TIMES
LEADERSHIP is a topic that fascinates people. It is one that
sells many empty seats if you are thinking of organising a
management workshop or seminar.
But the truth about leadership is that although much research
had been done on it since World War II, what really makes a
good corporate leader still eludes management scientists.
For Professor Gerald Randell of the University of Bradford
Management Centre, topics such as leadership fall into what he
calls "rainbow concepts". Why rainbow? Well, we can all see
it there, breathtakingly beautiful with those seven wonderful
colours. But try to grasp it and you fail.
It is the same with leadership. We can all see great
leadership when it is there. Great leaders such as the late
Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy as well
as our own Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, all
inspired their followers to greater heights.
But when management scientists try to translate leadership
into something we can grasp or deal with so that we can devise
a process to produce leaders, or to make our children into
leaders of tomorrow, they are not so successful.
Why is it difficult to define what makes a leader? We all
know now that each different situation needs a different type
of leader, or leadership style as many of us like to call it.
One way to describe what leadership style is, "the style that
fits or jives with the demands of the situation". For example,
a crisis situation demands an autocratic leadership style.
But if you are the leader/manager of a club, you must (most of
the time) use a participative style, otherwise the club
members will, most likely, throw you out.
Because different situations need different types of leaders
it becomes difficult to categorically explain what makes a
leader. Try asking what makes a leader and you will
inevitably get a reply starting with "it depends". Yes, it
depends on factors such as conditions or situations of both
the external environmental factors and the internal
environmental fac tors. For instance, the rate of change is
the market place, the changing expectations and demands of
your workforce and so on, require different styles of leading
your company or workforce.
While a stereotyped definition of what makes a leader does not
exist, management scientists do agree that all leaders have in
common the following characteristics:
* Desire for knowledge and learning. They value the power of
knowledge.
* They are dependable in exercising what they have committed
themselves to do.
* They engage themselves unceasingly in various types of
relevant activities and they have good interpersonal and
social skills.
According to a manage ment guru on leadership, Professor
Warren G. Bennis of University of Southern
California, leaders are able to:
1. Create a vision;
2. Communicate the vision;
3. Develop trust; and,
4. Understand oneself.
CREATING A VISION
LEADERS have the ability to attract a large number of people
to their visions. They are able to communicate their visions
to others, make them understand and at the same time,
influence them to carry out what they (the leaders) want the
followers to carry out.
Through the leaders' bountiful energy and communication
skills, they are able to make others want to come together in
trying to achieve that vision. In this context, our Prime
Minister is a great leader. He is able to channel the energies
of all Malaysians in trying to achieve Vision 2020, our
Prime Minister's grand plan with the objective of shifting
Malaysia from an agricultural based economy to an advanced
industrialised nation.
COMMUNICATING THE VISION
IN addition to the ability of creating a vision, leaders must
be able to communicate a complex vine in a simple way to a
large audience. They must have the skills in putting together
facts, concepts and so on and present them in ways that their
followers can understand and relate to. The followers need to
know the meaning of the goals and the directions.
They also need to know how, in participating in that vision,
they can benefit from their efforts.
Leaders not only have to be restless communicators, but also
have to be able to clear obstacles, especially those put there
by other human beings. In this sense leaders need to be
skilful in working with and through people, from the top to
the bottom levels, and he must be able to simplify complicated
problems for his subordinates too.
DEVELOPING TRUST
TRUST simply means being trustworthy. And this means the
ability to do things that you have given your word, to keep
secrets, and upkeep your principles and the values you believe
in.
A person worthy of trust is also consistent in the stand he
takes and reliable in his conduct.
People like to follow a leader they can count on. However,
leader who change their stand or have conflicting values cause
their followers to become confused. Followers don't mind
leaders who are firm but fair and trustworthy. On the other
hand, inconsistent and unreliable leaders end up with
uncommitted and disloyal followers.
UNDERSTANDING ONESELF
Effective leaders know their strengths and weaknesses. Taking
one step from self knowledge, effective leaders maximise the
use of their capabilities. And in areas where they are weak,
they have the confidence and wisdom to tap the expertise of
their followers and others.
Because of self knowledge, leaders have confidence in whatever
they do. They also have learnt from their ups and downs that
it is useless to look at failures as failures. Instead they
look at failures as stepping stones to reach greater heights.
The combination of these four factors or qualities changes
ordinary individuals into leaders. Individuals possessing
these qualities exude an aura of power which makes people want
to work with or under them. Contact with such leaders make
followers feel able to achieve. They feel energised and
empowered and their behaviour become changed. When the people
feel empowered, they:
* feel important and wanted. They feel that what they
contribute makes a difference to the organisation;
* feel confident and competent. They feel good about
themselves and they become energised;
* feel a part of a team. They enjoy a sense of belonging that
they belong to something that is meaningful; and,
* find their work challenging and exciting.
On the other hand, ineffective leaders cause the following
scenario to take place:
1) Followers or employees feel that it is a waste of time
trying to contribute their best to the organisation. Many of
them simply resign themselves to the boredom of performing the
minimal routine work that they must do in order to receive
their pay cheques at the end of the month.
2) They feel alienated and bitter. Some of them feel so
frustrated by the unfair practices of their superiors that
they deliberately work against the organisation. They
sabotage the company in subtle ways undetectable by the
management.
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