Skills like clear vision, ability to take decisions    
 competently, ability to inspire, to create a common
 vision, to guide, to coach, to mentor, and such skills
 have been part of the “obvious skills” that a leader
 must have.

 As a CEO, or a Sales Head, as a CFO, or as a HR  Head, as a Team Manager, as a Business Head, you
 are constantly observing and building leadership skills 
 in yourself and others. 

 Here is a leadership framework which examines 
 temptations which come our way, and provides a
 framework for making choices. Choices which would 
 enhance leadership skills.

Let’s take a closer look at this framework.

Let’s start with the first tenet of this framework of temptations and choices – choosing Results over Status.

Many leaders have a status conferred on them, by virtue of the position they hold. A branch manager holds a status which automatically makes him show up as a leader – people respect him, people listen to him, people agree with him, people depend on him – a lot of this is due to his status. However, you may get complacent examining his Results – maybe his Results are not that great compared to another team member who delivers higher results. The clarity to differentiate between behaviours originating due to a status, as distinct from Results, is important.

The next is Accountability over Popularity. It is tempting to aim to be popular – by being a golf buddy, by being a party-friend, by just being gregarious and friendly, especially with the boss.  Popular people seem to be more obvious leaders than others. However, accountability for results is more important. And sometimes it is the most popular people that we do not hold accountable for results – in fact we may not even notice the lack of results when we get along very well with our team member. This temptation to be popular, or to give too much importance to popularity, over accountability needs to be examined. 

The third choice is that of Clarity over Certainty. In today’s day and time, there is such a premium on quick decision making. A leader who can think super-quick, is super-good! However, a leader who pauses and reflects, who introspects, who searches for clarity, even if it means uncertainty for that time – is a better leader. Because clarity creates conviction – you know what you are doing and why. Clarity creates better results – because you know why one approach is clearly better than the other. Certainty, for the sake of certainty, results in quick decisions, but not necessarily better decisions. 

The fourth is Conflict over Harmony. By default, we are programmed to prefer peace over disharmony. And often a leader’s role becomes one of an arbitrator, and even extends into one which constantly seeks to prevent disharmony of any sort.  Yet, it is important to realize that new ideas and clarity often emerges from conflict – conflict of ideas. Nurturing healthy conflicts with a view to creating new ideas and solutions is a true leadership skill – even more important than maintaining harmony. Harmony often means silence, and silence often means a disconnect or a disengagement. 

The fifth, and the most intriguing, is the choice of Trust over Invulnerability. Now, that’s interesting! 

As leaders we have trained ourselves to show that we know everything, and we are so powerful. Invulnerable. Showing that we need help, or we do not know something, or are confused, is considered a sign of weakness in a leader. A sign of vulnerability. However, it is a true leader who is able to express his weaknesses or gaps in knowledge, and to enable this, creates and nurtures an environment of trust. It is better to operate in an environment of trust – knowing that you can reveal your weakness and it will not cause an adverse side-effect – that you can trust. And you expect others to trust you inspite of any vulnerabilities. 

Now that’s a difficult one to adopt, but a true leadership skill.  

These five choices we can make when faced with temptations will help us build the right leadership skills. 

Note: There is an interesting extension of the Framework, which we will bring to you in a separate article!