”I recently spoke with a lady in an interview about management, leadership, what the new model of leadership would be like.
It was hard for me to come up quickly with a clear profile of a leader. Both management and leadership skills are important. We need processes, rules, coordination, clear definition of the framework in which we operate. Management usually involves current, known situations, a status quo to be maintained. Leadership also involves taking responsibility for new situations, new problems that change the status quo.
In difficult, rather negative times, there is a need for leaders to emphasise a set of skills, practices perhaps less stressed in ordinary times. These include self-confidence, humility, empathy, courage, decisiveness in decision-making, fairness. I would add that the leader is required to have integrity, to put the common interest above self-interest, to communicate excellently, to be trustworthy, to have the ability to bring together diverse, seemingly different parties for the good of society. Last but not least, a good leader is open to continuous learning, self-knowledge. Without this, it is easy for a leader to be distracted, to digress. Their own anxieties, their neuroses, can dictate the leader’s behaviour, they can become a victim of their own ego.
A Latin proverb says that ‘It is absurd for a person who cannot lead themselves to lead others’. Yet contemporary reality shows us we are often in a theatre of the absurd.

If we look globally, few leaders of countries, governments, cities, or companies have managed to rise to the status given by the connotation of the word leader. The narcissism of many, party interests, have unfortunately taken precedence over the interests of society.
The Premier of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, is an example of a leader who has shown many of the traits of a leader during this period.
Jacinda Ardern understood the importance of a collective commitment in the face of the pandemic, won the trust of the entire nation to put the country into lockdown and other life-saving measures.
And the past two years have come with countless tough tests for her and all the world’s leaders.

Here, below, are some questions, ideas for a leader in troubled times:

  • Define what the problem is. I recommend the movie The Moneyball. Ask as many questions as possible to identify the real problem.
  • What happens if you don’t act now, what is the impact of indecision, inaction, in the medium to long term?
  • Who else has faced similar problems and can help you? It could be another leader, it could be someone from history, inform yourself, read up. Abraham Lincoln was a leader who went through many difficult times. Read about him or other people like him.
  • Who will be affected? Who do you need to find and implement the solution?
  • What are the options, the alternatives? Explore as many as you can, involve others in the process. More minds can generate more creative solutions. Put aside your own ego, trust that others can contribute.
  • Choose the best one from your options. Avoid exploring endlessly, getting bogged down in constant analysis.
  • Communicate the decision clearly, confidently, through multiple channels. Make sure everyone understands the decision and follows you. When communicating, make sure you appeal to both the mind and the emotional side of people, but do so firmly.
  • Implement the decision with confidence, again, with discipline. Any strategic plan can be zero if not implemented rigorously, with care.
  • Always ask for feedback. A plan can be improved. Redefine the plan if necessary, it must be like a living organism, evolving, adapting, not written in stone. Communicate changes clearly, often, firmly.

These are logical steps, of course, for problematic situations. And yet, there are often situations when they are not followed.
But I would add that the secret ingredient for success is how the leader does all this. ‘Style is the man’, said the French philosopher Blaise Pascal. I would say that the leadership style of a leader for the better world we want has as its ingredients caring, empathy, self-confidence, calmness, the ability to inspire confidence and hope in others, to generate a vision, to create contexts in which people work with meaning, dignity.”

via: spotmedia.ro