G. Balasubramanian,
G. Balasubramanian is a doyen of school education in India. He has held several positions of leadership at CBSE, including Director Academics. He was the brain behind the introduction of several innovations at CBSE, which included frontline curriculum, communicative approach to language teaching, Information Technology, alternatives to homework, etc. He is also an author, poet and a sought-after speaker at educational conferences world over. This article has been taken from G. Balasubramanian’s official website balaspeaks.in
“Heartiest congratulations, Boss” Vikram walked in to congratulate his boss. “Thank you. But this invite is not something big. Just ordinary” said Bhargav. “But you know, it is an acknowledgement of the great work you are doing” Vikram continued his praise, though Bhargav did not give much attention to what he said.
In every organization, there are people who are liberal in their praise for their heads and their leaders, just as an exercise to please them and to stay in their good books. “Praise the daughter of the present power’ said the famous satirist, Jonathan Swift. It is particularly important for leaders to be cautious of such liberal praises, as they may often be delivered with an expectation of a return favour. An overdose of praise is indeed a poison to the receiver though in limited doses it may still be a tonic.
Well, a good leader must be aware of and conscious to a few of the challenges they face in their learning curve. They should learn to avoid some of these professional hazards to keep both their position and their morale high and distinct. The challenges can be listed as follows:
1. Never yield to excessive praise
It is important to differentiate between a compliment and a praise. Mostly compliments are consequent to some achievements, while praise can be offered even without any significant achievement. Praise is offered sometimes without a purpose, without a cause or without any material. A number of cases have become known where some leaders have become victims of liberal praises and have found themselves in troubled waters later. “Applause abates diligence” said the famous writer, Samuel Johnson. When people who offer a continuous praise to their leaders and falter later in their workspace, they tend to tell their leaders “I trusted you.” As much as a leader should avoid being praised, one should also desist from engaging with self-praise. Says Francis Bacon in his essay on “Praise” – “If someone is an ordinary flatterer, he will have some common attributes which may serve everyman; if he is a cunning flatterer, he will follow the arch flatterer, which is the man’s self, and wherein the man thinks the best of himself, and therein the flatterer will uphold him most.” Some flatterers tend to drive their victims to the extent that they start feeling envious or jealous of their own selves!
2. Never Listen to Partisan Views
“I have my eyes and ears in the entire organization. Even if a pin moves somewhere, I get to know’ said the head of an organization. He was trying to explain how he has planted people at distinct levels and at different venues to gather information. Well, seeking intelligence is different from inviting observations and opinions. Many leaders tend to get a running commentary of what happens in the organization through the people who are planted. In most cases, the observations received by them are partisan views, quite subjective and as an exercise to show how loyal and dedicated they are to the leadership in comparison to others. These views, opinions, reactions, and comments have truly little credibility and are often far from the reality. Leaders will find themselves in soup if they believe and function based on such commentaries. It is indeed a poor display of one’s own competence.
3. Never judge people from what they appear
It is often said “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Similarly, leaders should not be carried away by the impressions created by the members of the team. Leaders may not be aware of the drama in the theatre of the workstation, as they restrain themselves in cozy places; and hence they do not often have a ‘reality check’ of the work profile of the individuals. Says William Hazlitt, a noted essayist “Man is a make-believe animal: he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.” A good leader should learn to assess people on what they have done rather than what they can do. Further, every individual has a unique thought architecture, a functional style, and diverse levels of social intelligence. Hence to judge people on their external or informal appearance would deprive a professional outlook to management.
4. Never Take Decisions in Anger
It is quite possible that a leader gets stressed sometime or the other. This may result in loss of temper or getting angry over a few happenings or for some actions of an individual. Anger disturbs the emotional balance of an individual. This would impact their thinking and hence one may take a quick decision which may not be appropriate, and which could result in mishandling situations. Sometimes, these decisions may have a negative impact on the leader.” Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured,” said Mark Twain. History is evidence to the cases of many top leaders who have become victims of their own decisions because they were taken in anger. Often anger is fuelled by ego, hurt sentiments and a foolish competition. Leaders should avoid decision based or laminated by anger.
5. Never Speak more than necessary
In positions of leadership, every single word spoken by the leader matters. The words, their intent, their tonality are likely to be subjects of scrutiny. They can be interpreted in multiple ways, and they can also be misinterpreted. The time, the context and the content of the words are interpreted by people according to their own needs, intents, and their emotional needs. I am aware of many leaders who have landed themselves in avoidable controversies for meanings and intents which they would not have even dreamt. It is therefore necessary that leaders take cognizance of what they speak, to who they speak and when they speak. Sometimes words acquire premature value and tend to create crisis and chaos before their intents leads to decisions. It is said “10% of conflict is due to difference of opinion and 90% is due to tone of voice and delivery” Leaders should learn not to speak more than necessary. They should keep in mind the words of Polonius to his son, conveyed by Shakespeare, “Lend thy ears to everyone, few thy tongue.” In some organizations, the words of leaders traded for their bullish or bearish values like in a stock market.
6. Never have overconfidence.
Leaders are sometimes driven by their past victories and stories of success. It makes them behave like a “Tarzan” or like a “He Man” making them think that everything is under their control In his book “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There” by Marshall Goldsmith, he deals elaborately on this misconception of past glory as an investment to the future. Failing to be pragmatic in approach because of overconfidence, lands many leaders to landslide failures. Says Bertrand Russel “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” Though the experience accrued from the past is a good manure for future growth, overconfidence does not help current growth as the context, timings, relations, and the environment are different. Leaders would do well to stay pragmatic.
7. Never Exhibit haste to take decisions
Decision making is both an art and science. It involves extensive balancing of both the right and the left-brain competencies. People who tend to depend more on the use of amygdale, land up in taking quick and hasty decisions often forcing them to regret for what they have done. In being hasty, one tends to be more reactive than responsive and responsible. Hasty decisions are not worthy enough to be kept on the showcases of one’s profile. Considered at a belated stage, leaders might think that they could have taken better decisions, only if they had exercised their patience a bit. Further, hasty decision is often outcome of some of the influences that are exercised on the leaders and the leadership by vested interests.
8.Never communicate earlier than required
Communication is one of the vital instruments in the hands of effective leaders. A few leaders who tend to show their control over situations or their influence in the existing systems tend to communicate what is likely to happen much in advance. They tend to play the role of astrologers or futurologists. The chances of such communications being incorrect, premature, irrelevant, and inappropriate are quite high. On such occasions leaders acquire a foolish disposition before others. Managing situations saying “I thought so” does not help to salvage the situation. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place” says George Bernard Shaw
9 Never show proximity more than necessary.
A leader is certainly not an island. He needs to live with people and show his presence with everyone and everywhere. At the same time, he should learn that too much of proximity to any individual or any group would land him in being termed as biased, unfair, and partial. A good leader learns to know how to keep the required distance so that he generates a feeling that everyone belongs to him and that he belongs to none. The policy of equidistance from people, situations and contexts would gravitate more respect and would boost the self-esteem of the individual. This is not lack of passion or commitment, but this is an exhibition of wisdom. It keeps the leader secure from personal attacks and undesirable labels. He should work like the central pin of a compass.
10 Never bring personal life to professional domains.
Leaders have sometimes a fancy to transport their professional behaviour to domestic environments and vice versa. Professional leaders need to understand that the gateways for both are entirely different. Trying to superimpose one over the other often leads them to avoidable value conflicts. Some leaders tend to display professional rewards and utilities to their families; when they get noticed or become subjects of debate their values are put to decisive test. I have found several stalwarts being humbled due to such misgivings and the loss they suffer professionally is immense. The argument advanced by a few for such things as an outcome of their priorities, schedules, privileges often does not stand to test. Says Stephen Covery, the celebrity author ““The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
Leadership is not merely a story of successes but is also a narrative of the behaviour of the leader. That alone helps to draft their leadership, lest they just remain as leaders.