Three things your leader probably isn’t
Tell your boss they’re wrong and watch what happens
Leadership. Can’t think why we’re talking about this right now. Oh wait …
Like people, businesses can have a muddled view of leadership. The character traits we seem to value in leaders are often the same ones that make for a piss poor leader.
Let’s skin it like this: the personality traits that’ll land someone the big job are the personality traits that’ll likely cause them to botch the big job.
Research says so. Our experience says so. Here’s more …
It’s science
Different studies point at this paradox, but Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premusic makes an excellent presentation in his book Why Do So many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?
In a nutshell, society tends to conflate confidence and competence and this dates back millennia. Freud wrote that humans instinctively want to recognise and promote brave, confident and even narcissistic people and, well, we do.
But oh the irony. Because the character traits commensurate with genuinely successful leadership are modesty and conscientiousness. Does that describe your C-suite?
Very unfortunately we see this play out most obviously in the realm of gender (per Tomas’s book). Men are more likely to present as unbreakable, self-assured and tough – women not so much hence this bears out in board rooms and pay gaps.
Leadership material
In the context of the Big 5 OCEAN traits of personality, successful leaders tend to score highly in open-mindedness, conscientiousness and agreeableness. So to answer the question posed in this article’s title: the three things your leader probably isn’t would be humble, considerate and emotionally mature.
These traits translate into effective leadership if and when a business culture provokes authenticity, respect, collaboration and, in fact, sees vulnerability as an asset.
Sweet Aunt Nelly that’s vulnerability and effective leadership in the same sentence.
This matters because we’re at a turning point. The changes coming down the pike have the power to rip through businesses that cannot adapt. We’re into Darwin rules and businesses need to stay agile; to evolve and keep rolling as the pace picks up.
Almost all modern businesses need to compete in arenas such as brand, tech, customer experience and purpose. Getting ahead in these domains needs seamless integration of human talent, analytics, data, AI, marketing, media and more.
Basically, every business requires more brains and expertise than ever before to ensure its dogs are barking.
The humble leader, admitting their lack of omnipotence, knows the necessity of a culture of trusting relationships, stakeholder ownership, discussion and collaboration so as to discern the course of action best for business. The humble leader is open-minded. This is strength. This is effectiveness.
The reality
So often, consultants and transformation gurus gather the data and build a watertight case for change, yet they temper the big reveal to pander to leadership narcissism.
Can’t say that. They won’t like that. They won’t want that. No, that’s the CFO’s treasured project. No, I’m tracking for a promotion. No, that dumpster fire’s a CEO initiative. That’s a no-go. That’s untouchable. That’s taboo.
Don’t criticise, wear blue, bring coffee, smile more …
You’d be surprised how many times transformation consultants feel compelled to water down the work and undersell the job. There might even be two versions of the final report: the what we really need to do document and the what we can get away with document.
The message is softened so that, best case, a handsome 75% of what needs to happen can pass through the board. It’s a lie to make sure CEO Smith feels sufficiently fluffed and fuzzy; feels not the need to sulk or activate douchebag mode.
Change consultants might die a little inside but they’ll settle for half-baked because a) it’s better than nothing and b) let’s hope the cheque clears.
Redefine and rebel
Some leaders want to keep all the power for themselves, but empowering, trusting and nurturing others is essential for buy-in. For organisational agility.
Some leaders want to appear tough and impenetrable, yet culture stalls and productivity nosedives when collaboration and challenge are taken off the table.
Transforming businesses is a fact-finding and fact-facing endeavour. Leadership egos and taboos are often elephants in the room too big to navigate. Hence, perhaps, why almost all change projects wind up falling short and disappointing.
In transformation, leaders are the glue. If they’re not able to stick themselves to the process and the solution – and inspire others to do the same – the lot’ll come unstuck.
This is business survival and there are no sacred cows.
So what ‘bout you? Are you ready to evolve and change the way things are done around here?
We’re sparking a movement and the question is this: how Rebel are you?
