Inspiration and other common leadership myths

The constant struggle in a leader's life is to trust team members, be open with them and at the same time, track their progress and draw boundaries. And it's understandable considering that instances of espionage, wrongful resignation or mass exits are common in the corporate world.

Shriram is a successful manager in a large firm. Always been mentored by his boss and a high potential person, Shriram has been told not to trust people. The learning might have come from his boss's previous experiences but it sure is creating a hurdle in his career. I was appointed Shriram's coach to increase his trust quotient. Interestingly, he gave me myths and I went on with 'break the myth' game. Shriram is now heading a department of 78 people and is a highly popular leader with delegation skills. But to reach there he had to go on a journey which was mentally arduous. Here are a few milestones of that one-year long road.

Myth: Be an inspiration so that the team becomes like you. 

Fact: People look up to leaders for sure. But creating clones is not part of a good leader's job. Imitation is the best form of flattery. It also serves as an easy escape route for team members as they can happily blame the leader. Inspire people to be their best form for organisational demands. If they try to copy you, they might fail in potential and retain the not-so-good parts. 

Myth: Leaders retain core competency. It's the strength.

Fact: In the '70s and '80s, Germany was considered a model country of the world. Today it is called Sick Man of Europe. In 1960s they were pharmaceutical leaders. Today, there is no German company in even top 15. What happened? Germany did not change with times. Stability is good for finance but innovation and changes demand movement and discomfort. They did not want to change labour laws or bring tax reforms. Leaders need to change existing patterns to get better performances. Basically, hard but achievable goals are better than a fluid comment such as “perform your best.” 

Myth: Top of the ladder is always lonely. Leaders do not have partners but followers.

Fact: Automobile giant Renault took a 44% equity stake in Nissan in 1990s. Carlos Ghosn was brought in as CEO to turn Nissan around. Bad profit understanding, strong hierarchical issues and poor team management with no shared vision had crippled the organisation. Ghosn made some changes. He appointed cross-functional teams of every hierarchy, brought key managers from Renault and delegated them a lot and made English a common language, instead of creating Japanese and French silos. The game plan was to have a shared goal. No organisation is profitable without mission and vision. Leaders need to push themselves along with the entire team to achieve it. If there are no partners of growth internally, external growth won't happen.

Myth: I am responsible for my department. I don't own the company. 

Fact: Organisations are a large system, divided into sub-systems consisting various departments. The worst nightmare of any organisation is to face ghettos or compartmentalisation of departments. All the teams of each division have to contribute to the overall objective of the organisation. The skill here is to make them collaborate and cooperate, which does not come from ego battles and non-alignment. Leaders own the company in a literal sense. Their sense of belonging should be so strong that is becomes unquestionable. 

The last point that I always make in my leadership trainings is, “People should be aligned to achieve together. They may not consent and it does not matter.” This means a bigger picture is crucial to see and build a team. A group that always consents to the leader and is rated as obedient does not necessarily make a great team. So learn to deal with humans with differences and move to a higher purpose while developing an effective team. 

The writer is strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing