Afew days ago, an article in a newspaper article read something like this - “...we need business leaders to mature faster ... since we have a growing economy”.To me, it seemed like the article was sponsored by the distributors of fruitripening chemicals. :-)
Alot has been said and done about leadership development. Much more will be saidand done. What’s the harm if I add my two bits as well ?
Heregoes. An individual has some secret sauce within. Circumstances draw this outfor others to taste. When people really like the taste, and wish they had thatsecret sauce too, they become followers. Come followers, the individual becomesa leader. Required to satisfy every expectation and pass each scrutiny. Everyday.
Secretsauce doesn’t need analysis or explanation. People can taste it right away ...when it is served to them. Like they can feel beauty and love ... when theseare before them. Therefore, when they look to fill leadership positions at thetime of need, organisations easily know whether they have the right candidatesor not. They know it when they have made the less than happy choice of adeficient candidate from within or of an unfamiliar candidate from without. Yetthey are not fully convinced about leadership development.
Justlook at the defence establishment. Presumably, even they do not believe thateveryone can be a leader or be made into one. But just look at their record.Not one leader ever recruited from outside. Not one leader who didn’t at leastreasonably fit the bill.
Theydo great service to the cause of leadership development by hiring the way theydo. Looking for signs of a secret sauce in the candidate’s past. Examiningevents and circumstances in the candidate’s past to ascertain if some secretsauce was drawn out and whether there were signs of followership. Generatingfresh circumstances to test the candidate against the burden of expectations and therequirements of scrutiny.
Leadershipidentification and development for them is a never-ending process. The careersof defence personnel are about doing diverse roles in varied circumstances. Ina continued manner, the probability of finding the individual’s secret sauce isincreased. There are continued chances to obtain and maintain followership, tofulfil expanding expectations and to pass intensifying scrutiny. Not a chancein hell for aspirants to only do jobs they are good at, or find convenient todo. Never a possibility of only flying safely over or under the radar, as theysay.
There’sanother magic that they know about. That followers get the leaders theydeserve. Future leaders have to get followership from a pool that is good tobegin with and is constantly developing to get better. They’re not going tolike the taste of just any sauce. They’re going to expect and scrutinise likecrazy. They’re going to demand more and better tomorrow than they did yesterday. It’sobvious, isn’t it, that leadership development is also about followershipdevelopment.
Secretsauce, followership, capability of fulfilling expectations and passing scrutinyare all quite evident by the time an individual reaches a career level calledthe ‘selection grade’. Only the best of the best make it to that step. Selectionpanels do not get swayed much by the possible consequences of rejecting anddemotivating others. After the first such selection grade there are many moreselection grades to earn before one can become a leader. Defence establishmentsare as fussy about promotions as they are about hiring. That’s another big servicethey do to themselves.
Ofcourse, there are also state-of-the-art defence academies. War games andsimulations. Joint exercises with other countries. Reward and recognition forthe exemplary. Legends about the special. And so on. That complement.
Asmuch as there are politics, prejudices and errors. And so on. Thatdetract.
Butagain, just look at their record. Not one leader ever recruited from outside.Not one leader who didn’t at least reasonably fit the bill.
And then doubt leadership development. If you must.
