Ideals on leadership in the 21st century
01, 3.1.2012
It is customary on Indus Day to reiterate our ideals on leadership in the 21st century.
The social philosophy in the past two centuries was shaped around the supreme position of the individual. There were three ideas that supported this thinking: the first was the power of reason as epitomized by Descarte's famous statement, "I think, therefore, I am," This was followed in the latter part of the 20th century by Ayn Rand's writings, especially the Atlas Shrugged. She argued that, the moral purpose of life is the pursuit of one's self-interest; and therefore, man was his own hero. Atlas Shrugged has been the most influential book after the Bible. The third milestone has been traditional capitalism that questions altruism, and champions individualism, competition, free market economy, and consumption. But the information revolution, the knowledge economy, the challenges of sustainability, and a global economic recession, remind us that the rules of the leadership game have changed. That if individuals are left to their own devices, there is a danger of greed overtaking them.
In a world that is flat, integrated, interdisciplinary, and networked, we must review the mantras of what success is and what happiness is. The ultimate edge organizations will receive is not through strategy, money, and intellect. Teams hold the ultimate key.
The well-rounded leader is a myth because no two leaders have common characteristics. In today's scenario teams can be well-rounded. Teams are replacing individuals as the standard currency for talent. The increasing complexity of problems requires high intensity collaboration, creativity, and interdisciplinary knowledge to resolve issues.
As a result, it is not uncommon to see average teams achieving outstanding results, and above average individuals failing. There is a bottom line in leadership: leaders produce extraordinary results out of ordinary individuals. This takes time, effort, and leadership. Great leaders, like great Generals, go to war with what they have. Accordingly, leadership skills must change to accommodate this shift from individuals to team-building.
The foundation of team building is trust. Trust arises out of a combination of three attributes - character, competence, and leaders being comfortable with their vulnerability. Trust is the glue that keeps teams together and energized.
Oscar Wilde once said, If you are a gentleman nothing else matter. "If you are a gentleman nothing else matters, if you are not a gentleman, nothing else matters." In my experience, character will always beat brains, and brains without character, is a no-brain. Character is the first leadership component of trust. Apart from the obvious aspect of having integrity, leaders who have character are role models, who live by the core values of Indus.
Competence is the second element of trust. To be competent is to be able to deliver results by meeting organizational goals, and expectations of students, teachers, and parents. A competent teacher is a lifelong learner, a trans-disciplinarian, with clear understanding of the purpose of education - to prepare students to succeed in life and not examinations alone, and to be happy.
Vulnerability is the third element of trust. Vulnerability builds trust. Leaders who practice vulnerability are emotionally honest about who they are, their shortcomings, their willingness to accept their mistakes, and ability to listen to negative feedbacks. They allow their teams to see their weaknesses; they are transparent. When leaders are invulnerable, when they wear a mask, they make trust impossible.
We endeavour to build Indus into a great institution through trust. We believe that nothing, absolutely nothing, except trust and teams can build a sense of belonging and sense of ownership amongst parents, teachers, and students.
(This is the essence of the message brought to newly elected Leaders of The Indus Student Council at Bangalore, by Lt. Gen. Arjun Ray (Retd.), CEO of the Indus Trust on the occasion of The Ceremony of Investiture on January 26th, 2012)
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Date: 04/25/2024