LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

The Leadership Pipeline

GeneralManager

1st Time Manager

FunctionalManager

Senior Leader

Individual Contributor

The leadership continuum

Business Government

CivicSociety

Leading

Leading Business

Leading A Team

Leading Self

Four way view of personal leadership

Self

Home

Community

Work

Source: Total Leadership, Stewart Friedman

Four way view of personal leadership

LEADERMUST

MANAGESELFINTERNAL

STAKEHOLDERS

CUSTOMERS

EXTERNALSTAKEHOLDERS

Source: Thomas DeLong

Aspects of leading an organization

VISION

ENROLMENT

COMMITMENT

INTEGRITY

COMMUNICATION

AUTHENTICITY

Source: The Handbook of Leadership

Leadership behaviorsLeader acts as… Consistent leadership behaviors

• Independent• Autonomous• Act with limited information• Directive• Motivator• Orderly• In charge• Aggressive• Nurturing• Connecting• Helping• Collaborate• Build support• Creative• Complex• Improvisational• Observant• Creative• Integrative

Leaders known for…

Cowboy

Coach

Military Officer

Parent

Part of Nature

Musician

Artist

Inward orientation without regard to external world

Ability to compete to win or beat competition

Desire to control or dominate company or

industryDesire to build

relationships in the community

Ability to create equilibrium among competing forces

Ability to achieve harmony and balance

Ability to create patterns, innovate, form relationshipsSource: Ulrich & Smallwood, Leadership Brand, 2007

Not quite a balanced leader…

Achieving Balance?

A galaxy of stars

The sum total of the minds in the group, organized and directed to a definite end, in a spirit of harmonious cooperation is the

power that got my success for me.- Henry Ford

The integrated leader impacts the total environment

Business

GovernmentCivic Society

A PERSPECTIVE ON INDIA

The Indian Leadership Crucible

• Velocity of growth• Scale and volume of operation• Entrepreneurial, Can-do• Service at your doorstep – customer centricity• Business ideas at the nexus of business-society-government• Hierarchical, but changing

AND

• New “sunrise” sectors• Younger managers handling greater responsibility • Stretch versus break

The talent gap in India

Barely employableHigh degree of in-house trainingChurn

Grow with business, grow fastNo time to invest in developmentNeed for greater polish and structureAnd learn soft business powerOperations to people

Global business understandingDriving P&L, aggressive executionLead change, manage complexityBring the best out in peopleAdvocacy versus autocracy

There is no “right” way…

There is only “right” performance!

“Diversity of India means there is no one behavior that is important, its not as marginal as a US operation might be…”

“I love being with people, working with people and that makes for work being fun, that you want to be in an environment with like minded bright people who can give you

food for thought, can challenge and that becomes a motivator in itself because it keeps pushing you to get on.”

“What I bring about is the can-do attitude, which I use effectively to galvanize people around a strategy and an action following that strategy”

“What works in South Africa doesn’t work in India, what works in India doesn’t work in Latin America so I think that ability to see the differences in people and how to use

those differences to even greater advantage”

Star Women Project, 2009

IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT LEADER

Behaviors and Traits beyond the CV

Decision-making

IntegrityAuthenticity

Commitment

Ability to structure

Leading change

flexible

Diagnosing situations

consistency

Create teams

Model for team

Coaching

Assertive

Create cooperation

Ability to motivate

PowerNarcissism

Committed to action

Isolation From reality

avoid conflict

Abrasiveparanoia

Micromanagement

hypomania

Generational envy

Dominance

It’s a match…

Company Lifecycle

Context of roleWithin company

Company CultureFamily Business or not

Leadership in family business

Shareholder Meetings

Top ManagementFamily Council & Family Assembly

Board ofDirectors

FamilyBusiness

Ownership

Source: John Davis on Family Business

Continuum of Company lifecycle,

Ownership status

(first generation or subsequent),

Delegated authority and

hence “fit” leadership style

What after the leader is placed?

• Chasing Stars– The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance, Boris Groysberg, 2010

• Misalignment in…– Organizational goal and CEO vision– Organizational culture to empower (or not)– Ability to coalesce a team– Networks and colleagues

• Possibilities– Wrong person– Right person in wrong role– Right person in wrong organization– Right person in right role in right organization

CAN LEADERSHIP BE TAUGHT?

Unlearning to learn again

FunctionalManager

General Manager

Senior Leader

Unlearn Specialization

Meta level understandingOf linkages across sectors and functions

Greater degree of independenceAnd interdependenceConflict resolution

Current processes, structuresAnd ways of thinking

InnovationUnderstanding cross-business And society-governance linkagesCreating and enabling Vision and Organizational structure

Communicating and negotiatingwith all stakeholdersCreating and managing co-dependence

Learn New Competencies

Learn New Behaviors

Perception of an “alpha” leader

Admiration- Active helping

and passive cooperating

Pity- Compassion

and sadness, neglect

Envy- Respect and resentment

Contempt- Neglect,

marginalization

Competent Incompetent

Cold

War

m

Understanding oneself and others, verbal and non-verbal cues are essential in managing the team or executing change

or negotiating or resolving conflicts

Source: Amy Cuddy, 2009