Management Perspectives

Leadership is like gravity. You know it is there, you know it exists, but how do you define it? - Jamie Williams.

The resource most in short supply of, in the corporate world (and indeed, in the world, at large, as well), today, is a steady supply of strong leaders and sound leadership.

‘Leadership’ is a critical term which needs to be clearly understood so that organisations of the future are able to withstand the extremely volatile, competitive, and uncertain business space. As global markets tend to be cyclic in nature, the organisation which the leader heads should be capable of withstanding all market conditions and the organisation should also be perceived in the wide spectrum of its customer base as vibrant and sensitive to evolving and ever-changing needs, at the same time, keeping the flames of the founder’s philosophy alive at all times.

Have a close look at the two pictures below. Now answer, which of these two pictures do you think depicts the image of a glorious leader? Did you select the silhouette image of the dashing man waving a sharp sword, sitting astride his horse? That man is an actor playing the role of a knight from a bygone era in a fictional film. That same man has also played the role of a murderer and a thief in other films.

He is an illusion. But unfortunately, a popular illusion, as far as the subject of leadership is concerned.

The image on the right is that of a truly successful corporate leader and a business hero. This simple, but smart, cultured, decent man with the clean-shaven look, sporting scholarly spectacles, and with well-combed hair; the one who looks like everyone’s idea of a favourite, kindly uncle, is Lee Iacocca, ranked among the best American CEOs of all time. Through the force and power of his mercurial and inspiring leadership, Iacocca almost single-handedly brought about the turnaround of a dying, gigantic brand called Chrysler. (He is also the author of a brilliant book titled ‘Where Have All The Leders Gone?’)

What exactly is it that Iacocca did to establish his reputation as one of the best corporate leaders ever? He conceptualised, drove, and cemented a series of apparently small changes and tweaks in the organisational setting and environment, both through personal example as well as by initiating a culture of robust brand leadership through inculcating the right vision and values, demonstrating courage and valour, ultimately paving the path to Chrysler’s victory in a highly competitive marketplace.

Unfortunately, the typical picture of a heroic leader which we carry in our mind would be that of a dashing warrior brandishing a sword and seated atop a charging horse. Or possibly, for the more contemporary-minded, the picture of leadership would be one of a man in a mask and a cape, swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper as he effortlessly wraps up entire gangs of evil-doers.

And it is this distorted picture that has done a lot of damage to the discipline of corporate leadership. In some primal, prehistoric part of our brain, this is still the image we carry of what we expect a leader to be like; an Emperor Ashoka, or Alexander the Great, or Napoleon Bonaparte, or King Arthur; or Superman, or Batman, or perhaps, even Spiderman.

Somehow most of us tend to associate leadership only with dashing action, not with contemplative thought and sound decision-making.
The visions of leadership with which we are furnished and fed with today are exaggerated, historical, and Hollywood and Bollywood inspired versions of heroes. And it is these visions with which we are fed so often, and which we have digested so readily, which have distorted our picture of reality.
For the world in which we live and work, the less glamorous and dashing (yet far more effective and productive) leader, the one who converts scarce resources into innovative products and services of high quality, satisfying and hopefully even delighting customers, generating reasonable, and more importantly, sustainable profits, creating meaningful jobs and careers, earning the admiration and loyalty of all stakeholders, and achieving all of this ethically without attempting to ‘bend the system’ is the leader towards which most of us should aspire becoming in our corporate careers.
And no better example of this brand of leader than J.R.D. can be found as an inspiration to us all.

We are today attuned through a barrage of media coverage to view the cult of ‘celebrity CEO’ and the ‘big brand’ that he represents as being larger-than-life; meant to subdue and overawe, rather than to motivate and inspire.

But such need not be the case. In fact, the most sustainable and rock solid organisations are the ones which are led by leaders who are humble, who have a large heart and a razor-sharp mind to match it, and who view themselves not as celebrities to be glorified and idolised, but as men with an important job to do and who focus on that job and do it well.

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born—that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That is nonsense; in fact the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born. - Warren Bennis (leadership guru)

So wake up. You, too, can be a leader. Develop your leadership skills and take up a leadership position. The world needs you.