Let me recapture the last week's attempt to refine leadership. We said that leadership practice requires two criteria to be met
Part I: Understand large open system ( of which the operating system is a part) to chose the 'mountain' ( that will enable the operating system to influence the open system in a sustained manner)
Part II: Enable the 'large operating system' to scale the mountain so that system elements follow appropriate course/path in a self-sustained manner ( which includes the ability to course-correct in a cohesive manner) irrespective of the changing circumstances( which may include the change of the mountain)
I know the definition is still too long and complicated. We need to achieve the simplicity without sacrificing the salient 'complexity' inherent in the definition. So let us explore the dissonances, three of part I and three of part II.
One, a CEO of a company selling ball bearing, exclusively to automobile industry, has to understand a large open system involved, as well as a CEO working in a General Motors. What is the difference? Intuitively, one can sense the difference. But we need to capture this difference in exact words.
Two, a senior executive heading an important support department like training or finance faces a different set of open systems to decide the mountain, while a senior executive of a SBU facing a customer faces different set of open systems to decide the mountain to scale. What is the difference in complexity? Once again, we can easily sense the difference, but we cannot define it.
Three, many executives lack the skill of first part. They follow 'me-too' strategies which can be replicated easily and therefore cannot be sustained. Or they just believe that 'hard work' alone can help them scale the mountain. In both cases, the leadership has suffered, although few analysts point it out.
Four, the second part assumes that the leader understands the current operating system 'realisitically' to determine what needs to be done. An entrepreneur often fails in understanding his/her realistic limitations as well as his/her team, while an executive often fails to understand the 'power' he or she realistically can muster to carry out the 'milestone actions' to reach the mountain.Does the executive need more 'leadership capability' because of this additional 'skill'? A leader practicing in a social arena needs this skill even more. Is this an important differentiator therefore?
Five, the ability to self-sustain the course to reach the action is often taken as an ability of the leader to develop his/her team which can function without him/her. We have seen many well intentioned initiatives suffer when the 'hero' leader leaves the team without developing his/her team sufficiently. Even best of the teams in the companies suffer from this malady; many small companies remain 'small' because of this lack. Should creating sustainable teams and organisations be an inherent task of a leader? The answer seems to be yes here.
Six, many strategies ( arrived after understanding the open system) are impractical to implement because they require many system elements to converge with the 'goal'. Mostly leaders are completely ignorant of how to achieve this. For instance, very few executives know how 'vision and values' can help many system elements to converge. Many leaders do not spend enough time in strengthening system elements, because 'action' is more preached than 'action plus thought'.
So here we are with six observations. Some are creating convergence, some divergence. But we are definitely few steps ahead of last week. Do you agree or disagree?
Part I: Understand large open system ( of which the operating system is a part) to chose the 'mountain' ( that will enable the operating system to influence the open system in a sustained manner)
Part II: Enable the 'large operating system' to scale the mountain so that system elements follow appropriate course/path in a self-sustained manner ( which includes the ability to course-correct in a cohesive manner) irrespective of the changing circumstances( which may include the change of the mountain)
I know the definition is still too long and complicated. We need to achieve the simplicity without sacrificing the salient 'complexity' inherent in the definition. So let us explore the dissonances, three of part I and three of part II.
One, a CEO of a company selling ball bearing, exclusively to automobile industry, has to understand a large open system involved, as well as a CEO working in a General Motors. What is the difference? Intuitively, one can sense the difference. But we need to capture this difference in exact words.
Two, a senior executive heading an important support department like training or finance faces a different set of open systems to decide the mountain, while a senior executive of a SBU facing a customer faces different set of open systems to decide the mountain to scale. What is the difference in complexity? Once again, we can easily sense the difference, but we cannot define it.
Three, many executives lack the skill of first part. They follow 'me-too' strategies which can be replicated easily and therefore cannot be sustained. Or they just believe that 'hard work' alone can help them scale the mountain. In both cases, the leadership has suffered, although few analysts point it out.
Four, the second part assumes that the leader understands the current operating system 'realisitically' to determine what needs to be done. An entrepreneur often fails in understanding his/her realistic limitations as well as his/her team, while an executive often fails to understand the 'power' he or she realistically can muster to carry out the 'milestone actions' to reach the mountain.Does the executive need more 'leadership capability' because of this additional 'skill'? A leader practicing in a social arena needs this skill even more. Is this an important differentiator therefore?
Five, the ability to self-sustain the course to reach the action is often taken as an ability of the leader to develop his/her team which can function without him/her. We have seen many well intentioned initiatives suffer when the 'hero' leader leaves the team without developing his/her team sufficiently. Even best of the teams in the companies suffer from this malady; many small companies remain 'small' because of this lack. Should creating sustainable teams and organisations be an inherent task of a leader? The answer seems to be yes here.
Six, many strategies ( arrived after understanding the open system) are impractical to implement because they require many system elements to converge with the 'goal'. Mostly leaders are completely ignorant of how to achieve this. For instance, very few executives know how 'vision and values' can help many system elements to converge. Many leaders do not spend enough time in strengthening system elements, because 'action' is more preached than 'action plus thought'.
So here we are with six observations. Some are creating convergence, some divergence. But we are definitely few steps ahead of last week. Do you agree or disagree?
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