Q. How can leaders encourage and facilitate creative thinking within an organisation?
A. Leaders can be role models for promoting creative thinking in an organisation by constantly looking for opportunities, challenging existing assumptions, beliefs and processes; asking ‘why not’ instead of ‘why’ questions; and being open to new ideas, even if they appear confusing and absurd at the first instance.
Q. What is the best strategy to create and sell a vision?
A. I am a big proponent of using a collaborative process to create a vision. More involvement upfront may at times create a lot of mess and take longer than usual, but there will be less need for aggressive selling and implementation will be relatively faster.
Q. How would you define your leadership mantra?
A. I do not have any leadership mantra, but I do have a set of principles and values that inspire and guide my behaviour as a leader and influence my decision-making.
Q. There is a huge difference between exercising authority and exercising leadership. How would you draw a distinction between the two?
A. Sure, leadership is all about inspiring people to want to change, while authority is about telling people that they have to change. Managers need both in order to get best results, but the goal is to use your influence as a leader to create a tipping point for change.
Q. From your experience, what differentiates leaders who manage to pull away from disaster from those who plunge right over the edge?
A. The willingness and ability to seek feedback and make necessary modifications to their plans and behaviour. They listen patiently, know when to ask for help, and do not let their ego get in their way.
Q. What is the single most significant change you have witnessed in the workplace since you started off? Has it changed the way you lead today?
A. I have been a manager for about 25 years now, so I have seen a lot of changes happening around me. I would say the adoption of technology in our daily life – cell phones, email, internet, social media – has dramatically changed the way we function. But, I do not think it has changed the way I lead. The core competencies for great leadership really has not changed that much in history – just the context in which we lead has changed.
Q. What is the biggest change you have seen in thought leadership in recent years?
A. The rapid explosion of social media channels is the biggest and most significant change. Earlier, there were just a handful of leadership experts around, primarily because they did not have enough platforms. Now, all of us (leadership experts) have plenty of platforms to share our opinions and ideas with those who are interested.
Q. Nowadays, companies are turning to leadership experts to accelerate their ability to bring in the bright talent. What advice would you give to HR managers who are looking to hire talented new employees at a time when the competition in job market is fierce?
A. Bringing in new talent is important, but more importantly, it is crucial to retain and nurture that talent. If you can establish your reputation as an employer that encourages and supports employee development, then you are more likely to become a magnet for top talent. You will be in demand everywhere. The same goes for managers.
Q. How has technology changed the fundamental processes that serve as the basic foundations for leadership?
A. While technology has had a tremendous impact on how we work, it has not necessarily changed the manner in which we lead. So, we can safely say the fundamental processes that serve the foundation for leaders remain same.
Q. Does the burden of responsibility negatively affect other areas of a leader’s life?
A. I am sure it can, but it does not have to. Actually, some of the great leaders I have known seem to have balanced lives. It is when leaders lose the balance that tends to disturb their effectiveness as well.
Q. Experts say goal must be specific, measurable, attainable and relevant. But, there are leaders who do not go by the rules and are still effective. Why so?
A. Some leaders are visionaries, but they still cannot plan and execute their vision and strategy well. A vision without a proper plan is a wishful dream that has little chance of translating into reality. For people to buy into a leader’s vision, they need to understand the strategy and its impact on them.
Q. How do you see the relationship between leadership, power and money?
A. Great leaders help individuals, organisations and institutions achieve extraordinary results. It all depends on what the leader’s goals and their results are. If it is only about money or power, it is more likely to harm. Leadership can be a powerful tool. I strongly believe that great and efficient leaders do not care much about money, profit, power, etc. They are more concerned with making the world a better place to live in.
