36    humanCapital I DECEMBER 2008

LEADERSHIP

Developing Outstanding &High Performance Leadership

By Prof Sattar Bawany

As companies strive to search for and develop talent,

there is considerable debate on what separates a leader

from the rest of the corporate pack. Are leadership

qualities intrinsic to an individual or can they be taught,

developed and nurtured over time?

Leadership is defined as an influence relationship among

leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that

reflect their shared purposes. Thus leadership involves people in

a relationship, influence, change, a shared purpose, and taking

personal responsibility to make things happen. Most of us are

aware of famous leaders, but most leadership that changes the

world starts small and may begin with personal frustrations about

events that prompt people to initiate change and inspire others

to follow them.

Organisations need leaders to visualise the future, motivate

and inspire employees, and adapt to changing needs. Jack Welsh

of General Electric is one of the best-known examples of a business

executive who combines good management and effective

leadership. He understands and practices good management such

as cost control but is a master leader, actively promoting change

and communicating a vision.

The Leadership ChaLLenge

The biggest challenge facing leaders today is the changing world

that wants a new paradigm of leadership. The new reality involves

the shift from stability to change and crisis management, from

control to empowerment, from competition to collaboration, from

uniformity to diversity, and from a self-centered focus to a higher

ethical purpose. In addition, the concept of leader as hero is giving

way to that of the humble leader who develops others and shares

credit for accomplishments.

These dramatic changes suggest that a philosophy based

on control and personal ambition will probably fail in the new

era. The challenge for leaders is to evolve to a new mindset that

relies on human skills, integrity, and teamwork – the hallmarks

of an Outstanding & High Performance Leadership.

high performanCe Leadership – is iT an arT or sCienCe?

It is an art because many leadership skills and qualities cannot be

learned from a textbook.

Leadership takes practice and hands-on experience. Learning

about leadership research helps people analyse situations from a

variety of perspectives and learn how to be effective as leaders.

praCTiCaL Leadership adviCe for ChaLLenging Times Like These

DECEMBER 2008 I humanCapital    37

Leadership is a science because a growing body of knowledge

and objective facts describe the leadership process and how to use

leadership skills to attain organisational goals.

One of the most important aspects of the new paradigm of

high performance leadership is the ability to use human skills to

build a culture of performance, trust, and integrity. DBMs recent

global study compared derailed executives with executives who

successfully arrived at the top of the company. The successful

executives had good people or relationship management skills;

the best leaders are deeply interested in developing others and are

emotionally intelligent.

Human skills are increasingly important for leaders in today’s

knowledge driven economy. Leadership means being emotionally

connected to others. Where there is high performance leadership,

people become part of a community and feel that they are

contributing to something worthwhile. Unfortunately, attempts

to achieve collaboration, empowerment, and diversity may

fail because leaders and employees have beliefs and processes

stuck in the old paradigm that values control, stability, and

homogeneity---rather than people.

Like a captain of a sporting team or a general of an army,

leaders need to innovate, inspire, excite and provide a clear vision

to others. They hold and believe in a vision and just as importantly,

have the self-belief and conviction to communicate it to others.

Furthermore leaders do not have definitive characteristics. Some

inspire and organise, whereas others are strategic or tactical, spot

opportunities or protect against disaster.

deveLoping high performanCe Leaders

DBM believes that with enough training, those with leadership

potential can be developed into outstanding leaders. However

there are things that cannot be taught. This is the difference

between skill and talent. Confusing the two can set up the manager

for disappointment.

The events of September 11th showed the world how the

firefighters of New York were humble leaders, dedicated to the

greater good rather than their own personal advancement. They

ran into the twin towers to save others. Humility is important for

good leadership because it places the focus on getting the job

done rather than self-aggrandisement.

Self-awareness is perhaps one of the most difficult leadership

skills to learn and yet it is the one that often has the most impact.

As leaders rise through the ranks of an organisation, their profile

becomes more visible to employees and their increased power can

have subtle and direct ramifications.

A strong management team underneath the leader can help

formulate business-related questions but often the leader needs to

ask questions of themselves, such as:

• Whichareasof thebusinessget themost timeandattention

and is that the right amount?

• Towhatextentdothey‘walkthetalk’oftheircorporatemission,

vision, strategic goals and values?

• Is the level of communication sufficient in the business for

employeestoperform‘aboveandbeyond?’

• Doesmy decision-making strike the right balance between

the needs of employees and the business, and what is my

record of success?

Aside from internal reflection, aspiring leaders also need to focus

outwardly. One of the best ways to do this is to observe leaders

within your organisation who have traits you would like to model

and who have nurtured their careers to achieve the success you

desire. In observing these people, list three behaviours or things

they have done which you admire, three ways you describe their

leadership style and three things your company values in a leader.

In compiling this list, speak with others in your company to get

an understanding of the qualities they are looking for in leaders.

Armed with this list, you can then compare it with your assessment

of yourself to identify areas for development.

formuLaTing a pLan

With the knowledge of what you need to develop, the next step

is to formulate a plan to help you get there.

High Performance Leaders use intellectual as well

as emotional capabilities and understandings to guide

organisations through a turbulent environment and help

employees feel energised, motivated, and cared for in the

face of rapid change, uncertainty, and job insecurity. Leaders

can expand the capacities of their minds and hearts through

conscious development and practice.

As executives rise to leadership positions, the complexity

of people management grows considerably. Leaders need hard

skills, for example, how to write a sales plan, and soft skills –

sometimes referred to as Emotional Intelligence. Research by

the Danial Goleman’s EI Consortium indicates 85 per cent of

leadership competencies relate to how you tap into and manage

your emotions and the emotions of those around you. According

to Daniel Goleman, characteristics such as self-confidence,

empathy and conflict-management are examples of emotional

management skills needed in a leader.

Traditional organisations have relied on fear as a motivator.

While fear does motivate people, it prevents people from feeling

good about their work and often causes avoidance behaviour. Fear

38    humanCapital I DECEMBER 2008

can reduce trust and communication so that important problems

and issues are hidden or suppressed. Leaders can choose to lead

with love instead of fear. Love can be thought of as a motivational

force that enables people to feel alive, connected, and energised;

as feelings of liking, caring, and bliss; and as actions of helping,

listening, and cooperating. Each of these aspects of love has

relevance for organisational relationships. People respond to love

because it meets unspoken needs for respect and affirmation.

Rational thinking is important to leadership, but it takes love to

build trust, creativity, and enthusiasm.

In developing leaders, organisations are increasingly

addressing hard and soft skills development concurrently. In

practice, they may require you to complement postgraduate

study, such as an MBA, with an executive coaching programme

that is tailored to your individual’s needs, as well as those of

the company. These programmes range from accelerating the

personal development of ‘high-potentials’ to supporting the

induction of a senior executive to a more senior or different role.

Coaches are also used to clarify career paths, enabling individuals

to take responsibility for managing their own careers.

Blended learning solutions that combine personal

assessment, skill-building and coaching to generate a new

solution are the way of the future. These types of solutions are

generally transparent and focus on improved networking skills,

business process integration, systemic and strategic thinking and

innovation. Companies at the forefront of this type of employee

development often integrate the process into a wider context of

succession planning – one of the most beneficial and valuable

exercises the modern corporation can undertake.

Article by Prof Sattar Bawany, Head of Transition

Coaching Practice at DBM Asia Pacific. DBM is a

leading global human capital management firm

providing career management, executive coaching,

and talent management solutions to private and

public companies, not for profits and governments.

Website: www.dbm.com Email: sbawany@dbm.com

ConCLusion

The world is changing faster today as a result of technology. Rapid

technological changes, a globalised economy, changing markets,

and e-commerce create more threats as well as more opportunities.

Advanced information technology improves productivity, customer

service, and competitiveness, but because technology changes

so rapidly, leaders must adopt new ways of doing business.

The Internet and e-commerce have increased domestic and

international competition and challenged organisations to deliver

goods and services rapidly.

Basic management skills of process, control and communication

are still needed and will probably continue to be taught in the

traditional way, in classrooms or through mentoring. But in order

for managers to become outstanding high performance leaders,

there needs to be a different and more scientific approach to

management development, one that shows measurable results

and ultimately has a positive impact on the bottom line.

For Singapore’s budding leaders to compete with the world’s

best, senior managers need to embrace the latest techniques of

high performance leadership development. The price of not doing

so will create plenty of managers, but very few leaders.

The suCCessfuL exeCuTives

had good peopLe or

reLaTionship managemenT

skiLLs; The besT Leaders

are deepLy inTeresTed

in deveLoping oThers

and are emoTionaLLy

inTeLLigenT.