Lead the right way

Swati Rai

A lot has been written on how good leaders can make or break the company's culture and successes. Most often, leaders who can't inspire or ensure effectiveness, lose their star performers. The reverse is also true, if leaders are critical of or threatened by a subordinate, out the latter goes for showing competent work culture. Juniors who get their fare share of inspiration and encouragement under the leadership of a good manager flourish. 

Pallavi Jha, Chairperson & Managing Director, Dale Carnegie Training India, Walchand PeopleFirst Ltd opines, "It is important to understand that as a leader, you are an enabler; you have to essentially inspire others. At the same time, you need to have to ability to handle critical tasks such as setting strategic goals and creating a road map for your employees."

The managerial aspect of leadership is most often forgotten, wherein the leader's task is also administration of people and processes. Striking a balance between being a hard taskmaster and a friend, philosopher and guide is essential to walk the tightrope of being firm, yet not rude. Nikhil Dey, President, Public Relations & Public Affairs at Genesis Burson-Marsteller, shares his mantra to drive value out of his entire team's effort, "As a leader, ensuring that everyone has a clear, shared understanding of our strategy and vision is critical to effective collaboration. Defining the direction for the future and communicating it regularly so that people can understand how their role fits into the bigger picture." 

There are many styles of leadership, ranging from democratic to commandeering; motivational to encouraging and all leaders have a personal permutation and combination of types, to be used in varied places and times. 

A good leader also constantly focuses on creating a non-hierarchical, collaborative and dialogue-driven culture that drives engagement and innovation. Dr. Murali Padmanabhan, Senior Vice-President and India Head-Talent Management, Virtusa Polaris says, "Creating a safe and positive work environment with two-way communication establishes trust amongst the employees." He considers a lack of self-discipline, poor judgment, favouritism, micro-managing and lack of strategic thinking a strict no-no for being a good leader. 

Leadership, pan countries in a global operations company takes the place of prime importance. When work stations and ethics are divided across time zones, it become important to have strong leadership values. George Elisseou, HR Director, Ford India, opines that the employees are bound by one value system. Talking about evolving leadership styles he says, 'The modern workplace environment is constantly changing and companies are adopting a culture of innovation. Top down management, which is a traditional leadership style is now moving to a more collaborative approach that empowers employees and blurs the lines between a boss and the worker. To encourage creativity at work, the role of the leader is evolving into that of a coach, facilitator and team builder.

Do leadership roles and limitations get defined by the workplace culture and vice versa? Workplace protocol and spaces also in a way affect the leadership dynamics. Zoya Brar MD, Founder, Core Diagnostics believes that workplace design has tremendous impact on work-culture. "All walls in our building are made of glass and there are no individual offices. Instead, there are labs, conference rooms, brainstorming areas, training areas and one large community table at which everyone sits - CEO included. In our case, it reinforces our commitment to transparency. Also, the community work desk, while symbolic, helps reinforces a flat hierarchy. Anyone can reach out to anyone - irrespective of their title and the role in the company.' She says. 

At a time when millennials have overtaken the corporate workspace, with increased shared responsibility, delegation and team decision making, has the leadership axiom changed? Jha shares her thoughts, "When I was young and reported to leaders, there was a clear hierarchical structure and it was generally an authoritarian style which worked in those days. As the workforce has grown younger I am delighted to see the rise of a confident, independent and aspirational millennial workforce." Neel Sawhney, CEO, One Friday, says the brass-tacks haven't changed, 'Being a good leader mandates a vision, being a learner with an ability to set goals and of course be disciplined oneself." 

Ask them to score the key elements to a being a good leader; one gets a diverse range. Dey opines, "The ones I am partial to are transparency in decision-making, being accessible and available to clients and team members." Padmanabhan considers honesty, commitment, communication, and a positive attitude, key elements of a good leader. On Brar's chart 'Engaging with the team - intellectually and professionally' tops the list. 

There is clearly no 'one size fits all' in following a leadership pattern. At best, it is a healthy balance of emotional intelligence, coupled with strategic thinking and managing people; at worst it is an over-dependence on one of the many ways to lead.