Learn to lead

Abhishek Agarwal

Best leaders are those who are quick in learning the people, agile in understanding them and prompt in responding them. And, to acquire these traits, a leader should be receptive to learning  from his/her followers. Good followers work like the aides of a leader, and they share their past experiences that help the leader in choosing a right path or decision. For newly appointed CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and CXOs, it is almost mandatory to learn about the organisation from old and senior employees. Regular interactions with team members help to do a more accurate SWOT analysis than only collecting the information from annual reports and balance sheets of the company.  

Learning Keeps Leadership Alive

According to Barbara Kellerman, faculty at Harvard University, "Being a good follower is complicated in ways that are rather similar to being a good leader. It means being engaged. It means paying attention. It means having the courage to speak up when something's wrong, and it means having the energy and activism to support a leader or manager who's doing things wisely and well." Learning is the blood of leadership that provides life to all the vital organs: delegation, communication, integrity, vision, and confidence. And, the best school of leadership learning is the environment where one has to lead and perform. Conversely, when a leader stops learning, he becomes functionally dead. 

Leadership flourishes on communication

Flexibility is much stronger than rigidness. A rigid & authoritative leadership approach always creates hurdles in the growth of an organisation. Leaders who follow an authoritarian style do not get benefits from the experience of their team, nor do they receive an honest support of the team at the time of a crisis. Their followers leave them alone with their false ego and haughty attitude. A one-man army can hardly win a battle that requires a robust battalion of trained and loyal people. If a leader doesn't trust the abilities of his team, it means he mistrusts his own calibre and decisions. Leaders who communicate with the team just to assign tasks and targets are the worst motivators. In contrast, leaders who believe in interactive communications rather than dictating the orders get success in receiving the best from their team.

Crux of the matter

Trust, confidence, and communication are essential ingredients of every human relationship, and leadership too cannot be spared from it. Leadership is not the name of power or authority; it is the position that demands a better understanding of people and the system. While coaching and training of the employees lie at the core of leadership responsibilities, but to optimise their talent and other organisational resources, a leader should always be open for useful information, in this regard no other source can work better than the knowledge and experience of employees.   

Discussions empower one’s decisions

In fact, in most of the cases, people respect and admire leaders who spend a significant amount of time in learning the things from their followers. Such a learning approach not only broadens the vision of a leader about the culture, values, and ethics of the company but also equips him/her with team's commitment and trust, which are two strong pillars of leadership. Ideally, no one is born with instincts that make one qualify for a leadership role, instead, it is the transformation of an ideal follower that produces a great leader. Usually, successful leaders often focus on strengthening the team and improving their performance rather than keeping their profile high before the stakeholders and press. They prefer sharing their ideas with the team members first and then taking straight decisions after the consent of top management.  

— The writer is Senior Vice President (Global Delivery), Judge India