Contemporary Leadership Challenges
Today I was contemplating on Leadership. And these are things that came to my mind in a flow. What makes one a leader? How does one become a leader? Is there any quality or qualities that set a born leader apart from the rest?
So, here goes what I think! Some times, it also applies to good managers, who are also good leaders.
Leaders know how to forge relationships and accomplish tasks. They are not exceptionally brilliant or overly gifted. They just know how to make maximum use of themselves and others to accomplish the given task.
Let’s see what challenges a leader in today’s world has to face.
Leaders have to be fast enough with the changing communication speeds and needs. The speed of communication has increased and one thing you say or do travels faster than you can imagine. Information creates more impact than ever before and hence any information that spreads like wildfire can create problem or can be good for the leader, depending on the way he deals with it. But since it is very fast with the advent of internet and technology, he has to be quick-witted enough to outsmart the speed and wit of those.
Leaders have to be aware of the happenings around them. There is a lot happening around us and in again, a fast pace. This means, you have to keep updating yourself about the new happenings on a frequent basis. Otherwise you will be outlived by the changes around you. And since the impact of global happenings in local, it is necessary to keep updating. So, updating globally is a challenge faced by any leader today.
The leader has to face another challenge of cultural diversity in this world of global village. Everyone around the world could be a follower to the leader today. He should be able to deal with such diversities as race, caste, regional, linguistic and national. Therefore it also becomes a challenge to learn about other cultures and diversities so that the leader can be sure of how to deal with those differences if and when they arise. It also becomes a challenge on updating self about the timely changes that happen in these cultures. For instance, he needs to know that a Japanese follower may not think highly about someone who looks in eye. Or that the Indians celebrate Holi on which day...
He also needs to know what is politically correct while morally right might be something else. The decisions you take on moral grounds may do more harm than good if you do not know what could be politically right. In the past, morally and politically, almost always, right coincided. It is not the case these days. For instance, the reprimanding of someone who has done something wrong, in public may not be morally right for you. But if you don’t do that, the wrong may be repeated and hence, it becomes necessary to do it in public.
Leaders these days need to be creative or their decisions or ideas tend to be overlooked and hence, leadership taken away from them. Creativity is highly appreciated in today’s world. And that leader who has creativity will be more appreciated and accepted than the one who does not show any creativity but solves the problem nevertheless. It also increases recall quotient.
So, here goes what I think! Some times, it also applies to good managers, who are also good leaders.
Leaders know how to forge relationships and accomplish tasks. They are not exceptionally brilliant or overly gifted. They just know how to make maximum use of themselves and others to accomplish the given task.
Let’s see what challenges a leader in today’s world has to face.
Leaders have to be fast enough with the changing communication speeds and needs. The speed of communication has increased and one thing you say or do travels faster than you can imagine. Information creates more impact than ever before and hence any information that spreads like wildfire can create problem or can be good for the leader, depending on the way he deals with it. But since it is very fast with the advent of internet and technology, he has to be quick-witted enough to outsmart the speed and wit of those.
Leaders have to be aware of the happenings around them. There is a lot happening around us and in again, a fast pace. This means, you have to keep updating yourself about the new happenings on a frequent basis. Otherwise you will be outlived by the changes around you. And since the impact of global happenings in local, it is necessary to keep updating. So, updating globally is a challenge faced by any leader today.
The leader has to face another challenge of cultural diversity in this world of global village. Everyone around the world could be a follower to the leader today. He should be able to deal with such diversities as race, caste, regional, linguistic and national. Therefore it also becomes a challenge to learn about other cultures and diversities so that the leader can be sure of how to deal with those differences if and when they arise. It also becomes a challenge on updating self about the timely changes that happen in these cultures. For instance, he needs to know that a Japanese follower may not think highly about someone who looks in eye. Or that the Indians celebrate Holi on which day...
He also needs to know what is politically correct while morally right might be something else. The decisions you take on moral grounds may do more harm than good if you do not know what could be politically right. In the past, morally and politically, almost always, right coincided. It is not the case these days. For instance, the reprimanding of someone who has done something wrong, in public may not be morally right for you. But if you don’t do that, the wrong may be repeated and hence, it becomes necessary to do it in public.
Leaders these days need to be creative or their decisions or ideas tend to be overlooked and hence, leadership taken away from them. Creativity is highly appreciated in today’s world. And that leader who has creativity will be more appreciated and accepted than the one who does not show any creativity but solves the problem nevertheless. It also increases recall quotient.
A leader can be confronted any time about his field of expertise. So either he needs a long line of experts to take over or enough expertise to deal with it when need arises. It is also necessary that he is thorough with a minimum depth of knowledge and a resource to refer to if need be. The younger generation is very vigilant and updated about new development. So, in a way, if you need to remain in place of leadership, you need to have the above-mentioned quality.
A leader of today should also be farsighted to calculate the impact of his current actions in the future on the followers, on oneself as well as on the team as a whole. For example, a change in the structure of the organization may affect the organization positively for the moment. But it could have adverse effects on the whole at a later stage when the method or hierarchy becomes obsolete.
Talking of leaders, Anna Hazare, an old man has evoked a percentage of the leadership Gandhiji evoked long way back. Through a common need, he united India and the youth was active just like the days of independence fights. Though not physically marching, the youth flooded the social media networks with support slogans, communities to discuss, get togethers etc. Status updates and likes and tweets of Indians were found flowing everywhere. The point is, it is a common need that collects everyone under you. So, it is a challenge to find a collective need when today, everyone has his or her own selfish need in mind.
Today’s leaders also need a psychological bent of thoughts because EQ is an integral part of productivity. So is the emotional environment. They also need to have a high EQ as they need to set an example for the followers. The impact could actually make or break a deal of support. Consider a situation where the follower has everything he wants but does not feel happy with the emotional maturity of the leader. He sooner or later will leave.
A leader should be able to appreciate talent and also nurture it. He should focus on what is important and make his followers follow his lead in this. He should be able to build trust among others and develop a close tie among the group. He himself should be able to contribute significantly to the cause and must have hands on knowledge on every new development in the field. He should know that everyone has feelings intellect and potential for courage.
A leader of today should also be farsighted to calculate the impact of his current actions in the future on the followers, on oneself as well as on the team as a whole. For example, a change in the structure of the organization may affect the organization positively for the moment. But it could have adverse effects on the whole at a later stage when the method or hierarchy becomes obsolete.
Talking of leaders, Anna Hazare, an old man has evoked a percentage of the leadership Gandhiji evoked long way back. Through a common need, he united India and the youth was active just like the days of independence fights. Though not physically marching, the youth flooded the social media networks with support slogans, communities to discuss, get togethers etc. Status updates and likes and tweets of Indians were found flowing everywhere. The point is, it is a common need that collects everyone under you. So, it is a challenge to find a collective need when today, everyone has his or her own selfish need in mind.
Today’s leaders also need a psychological bent of thoughts because EQ is an integral part of productivity. So is the emotional environment. They also need to have a high EQ as they need to set an example for the followers. The impact could actually make or break a deal of support. Consider a situation where the follower has everything he wants but does not feel happy with the emotional maturity of the leader. He sooner or later will leave.
A leader should be able to appreciate talent and also nurture it. He should focus on what is important and make his followers follow his lead in this. He should be able to build trust among others and develop a close tie among the group. He himself should be able to contribute significantly to the cause and must have hands on knowledge on every new development in the field. He should know that everyone has feelings intellect and potential for courage.
Leadership, today, itself is a challenge. There are umpteen reasons for a leader to go wrong today. Umpteen ways. But only so many ways he could be right and lead right. Leading is a result of nurturing an innate talent to create and maintain relationships for a purpose.
Cheerz!
Jyotsna
Cheerz!
Jyotsna
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