LEAD ON.

• Author: Jinadasa, Asoka N.
• Position: BUSINESS & FINANCE - Leadership

Though we discuss and debate a lot about leadership, there is no consensus about what it really means. Despite numerous opinions and theories, there is a lack of a common language for understanding and developing leadership in political and corporate domains. Several flawed assumptions and myths about leadership have derailed the attempts to develop leaders.

Among North American companies ranking 120 issues, leadership was viewed as the most important one due to its impact on people management. Unlike corporate leadership that is limited in scope to specific fields of activity, political leaders must have the ability to manage every conceivable issue, which is far more challenging and demanding. Demographic shifts also require political leaders to guide and inspire an increasingly diverse community or nation in terms of gender, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, etc.

The command-and-control leadership methods of previous decades resulted in a lack of innovation, creativity, and accountability, all of which hurt organizational and national performance, especially under increasingly volatile conditions. Consequently, leaders need to see themselves more as partners, supporters, and coaches of those they lead.

Most organizations and their leaders are struggling to unlock the mystery of why performance varies from one work group, community, or nation to another. These are composed of individuals with diverse motivations, mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors, all of which lead to various levels of performance. Good leaders have the ability to maximize the individual and collective performances of such diverse groups of people. Though many leaders are endowed with some of the necessary traits, few have the combination of competencies needed to help a group of individuals achieve excellence in a way that significantly and sustainably improves their performance under changing conditions.

Being prepared for more of the unexpected is an essential feature of good leadership in today's volatile world. Leadership thus requires two core competencies, which can be summarized as wisdom (knowing what to do next) and skills (ability to do what is needed). Since the seeds of the future lie to some extent in the past and present, leaders have to decipher past and current trends, relate them to possible future scenarios, and help their followers develop the necessary insights, skills, and processes.

The leadership skills needed in an increasingly volatile...