corporate world is competitive and the turf is growing difficult by the day. Many of the world’s leading companies have broken down, turned obsolete or acquired by stronger rivals. Companies like General Motors, Ford, Apple, IBM and so on had to innovate fiercely to stay as Titans. In India too, since early 90’s when markets had opened and competition grew enormous, the future will presumably hold much more intensity and tailspins. Survival of fittest is now a ruthless and unexceptional law.
Unexpected things have happened–dwarfs have taken over giants, even companies considered dark horses have emerged as ultimate winners. In 2006, Tata Steel took over Chorus Group, one of the largest steel companies in Europe and the third largest worldwide—surprising the industry.
Survival of the fittest for individuals working in companies indicates that they have to contain some remarkable qualities that should help them surf the tides adeptly. There are certain missionary qualities and then there are very crucial attributes required in professionals in businesses for ensuring survival, on their path to achieving excellence in leadership.
Emotional and spiritual well-being of an individual largely go hand in hand. A leader must practice the art of following a holistic health chart as it also means health of his company and other employees. The variables that influence leaders’ behaviour are the degree of emotional distress that he may be able to withstand, coping mechanisms, resistive scale, development based on the work locus of control and personal values
Attitude and performance are the most significant. Attitude decides altitude– positive frame of mind, accepting challenges, winning grit, and humility. A flexible and keen learning mind enables brilliance in performance. Passion, zeal and ethics are other very important qualities.
Dr (Col) A Balasubramanian himself is an excellent example of the above. Sir, Bala as he is fondly known is a classic example of courage, commitment and dedication for providing practical and relevant education after serving the Indian Army.
Other than the innate professional and leadership qualities I would also like to stress upon is the overall health of future managers – Physical, Mental (knowledge), Emotional and Spiritual. To maintain health it is important to cultivate this habit for all times to come.
Recently there have been incidences reported of top executives of renowned MNCs succumbing to stressful work environments resulting in untimely or premature deaths, which is very unfortunate and absolutely avoidable. Other than physical well-being, an individual’s knowledge keeps him above the rest. It is certainly of significance that professionals continue to read and keep them abreast of world topics and local market intelligence.
Emotional and spiritual well-being of an individual largely go hand in hand. A leader must practice the art of following a holistic health chart–as it also means health of his company and other employees. The variables that influence leaders’ behaviour are the degree of emotional distress that he may be able to withstand, coping mechanisms, resistive scale, development based on the work locus of control and personal values. The toxic leaders are seen as self-opinionated and not easy to work with. In the worst forms they can be seen as highly ill-tempered and even abusive. They cultivate sentiments like that of a sadist or illustrate behavioural patterns that of a narcissist, both of which, do not at all contributing to organisation’s health and growth.
I tend to believe that Laws of Universe give much better results vis-a-vis Laws of Business:
Also in the book, ‘In Search of Change Maestros’ authored by Dr Pritam Singh spells important critical qualities and essence in a profile of a leader. The eight driving principles mentioned in the book are contextual sensitivity, compelling vision and purpose, winning streak, people connect and engagement, meaningful contribution with speed, creative destruction for transformation, evolving self and culture architecture.
Another point of reference to corroborate my thoughts about leadership qualities will be one of the papers in Harvard Business Review that had explained in the article ‘What Titans can teach us’ that there is no real template of leadership lessons for all to follow—no ‘one size-fits all’ approach. A business leader doesn’t have to strive for titanhood to benefit from the lessons a titan has to teach. One can pick and choose the characteristics that will help make our companies more successful.
Another point of reference to corroborate my thoughts about leadership qualities will be one of the papers in Harvard Business Review that had explained in the article ‘What Titans can teach us’ that there is no real template of leadership lessons for all to follow - no ‘one size-fits all’ approach. A business leader doesn’t have to strive for titanhood to benefit from the lessons a titan has to teach
While above mentioned qualities are prerequisites for professionals, as per my corporate experience, I will encourage the young trainees to not undermine the role of bosses in their work life. The first supervisor or a mentor and most of the times termed as ‘Boss’ is a vital figure with whom a young professional spends longer duration which may make or break one’s career.
I personally feel, if the early bosses in a young professionals work life, happen to be tough, it will go a long way in making their career bright. Professionals should not run away from such bosses because it is only them who have the capability of changing career paths of their mentees. I credit my career to my first boss. He was the Director at Tata Steel. He encouraged entrepreneurial spirit and never hand held me—he had a firm belief that the best way to train is to throw the managers in problems and allow their creative thinking to resolve matters. He was an observer and only intervened to save a drowning colleague. He was extremely intelligent to differentiate when to provide that mild support and withdraw just in time so that his help was never taken for granted and managers therefore always learnt their corporate lessons. He had cast my career’s mould and I would like to believe he did it well. Concluding, I would like to reiterate the essence of leadership. Leadership does not necessarily mean that all good human beings can be good professionals or leaders but it is almost true that those who are not good human beings cannot be good professionals or leaders. Take it from the three decade long corporate experience and these notes my mind had taken while on the journey.
by Yasho Verma
