Are you ready to Lead during Leadership Crisis 2015?

"Organizations that understand the immediacy of the baby boom exit and thoughtfully prepare for it will be in the best position to achieve unmatched success."

(Allier, J.J. and Kolosh, Keneth, 2005)

When the whole young generation was busy in discussing the future of the world after 2012, the big guns of business were talking of the leadership crisis they will face after year 2015. Those who lead the market during 20^th century and even in the first decade of 21^st century will be retired from their respective organizations by then. The question is, who will replace them and how will the new lot respond to the crisis, they have never faced before. Leaders decide the future of any nation or organizations. The market and the business strategies will not be the same. Organizations from the whole world have started working over it. There are news roaming around that few of them are suggesting to extend the contracts of the existing leaders and others are searching for the replacements and energetic backups. Sooner or later, the first ones will also have to change their existing strategy and to groom leaders. Those who are ready to face this challenge with a better plan will be able to handle it successfully.

“Leadership is an inborn quality or can be acquired?” the crisis has emerged an old debate again and it sounds quite logical this time around. In past, organizations have experienced born leaders only but the challenge in hand is different now. They are not supposed to develop strategies to survive in the market. They are, now, to develop leaders for future. They have to develop replacements but the question is who will come forward to fill the gap, who would like to be trained by the existing leaders. Born leaders do not need formal guidance but the problem here lies is that the organizations cannot wait for the born leaders. So they will train those individuals who, according to the latest theory, have made a CHOICE to be leaders. “Leadership is neither an inborn quality nor can be acquired but it is a choice of any individual who decides to lead his people in a given situation. He who dedicates himself to learn the techniques of leadership and implements them at his workplace, is eligible to be a leader in any organization” they say.

Companies all over the world are investing lots of dollars on developing leaders. Here are few highlights;

Annual investments by the multinationals:
Accenture: $800 millionIBM: $700 millionMcDonald's: $480 millionGeneral Electric (GE), $400 millionCoca-Cola:$14 million

Multinational organizations of Pakistani market have also started investing on developing leaders however they do not have a separate budget for that. As of now, they are investing money on leadership development from the training budget. They need to allocate a separate budget to develop leaders so that the people and the organizations could put conscious efforts to improve their leadership skills and to be fully equipped to handle the expected crisis.

They must know what is expected from a leader and what traits they must have to get best out of their people. The leaders from corporate sector of Pakistan are still unaware of these traits. Most of them have bossy attitude towards their subordinates and there is hardly any point of disagreement between them. They do not exhibit best the essential traits of leaders and carry one leadership style in all the circumstances. They do not know the difference, in fact. If you want to make a CHOICE of becoming a leader then you must know the traits of a leader and styles of leadership

Traits of a Business Leader:

1. Know YourselfA leader knows himself well. He knows his strengths and weaknesses. He is clear in thoughts, in his road map. He is self-motivated, positive and optimistic but at the same times he avoids illusions and mysteries. He takes responsibility of his every decisions and accountable to himself first. He analysis the areas he needs to work on and improve them in a structured way.
   
   
2. Lead from the frontOrganizations encounter different issues and change the strategies accordingly but cannot share the reasons with all the employees. Here comes the role of a leader, he needs to come forward, gather the information, share with the team and if there is any unexpected change then he presents himself as handle that before  asking the team to deal with that.
   
   
3. Be Fair and FirmYou are not a leader if you are not influential. A leader’s presence and words motivate his people to perform well. But the problem is with those who are popular in their respective teams. They normally hesitate in taking unpopular decisions. A team leader must know the rules, regulations and values of the organization and should be brave, fair and firm in taking decisions. If any of his subordinates is found guilty, he must refer the case to Human Resource department. Such decisions give very strong message to others and increase leader’s credibility. But be fair to them all the time.
   
   
4. Do not rely on resources & ask for authoritiesLeaders never rely on resources or ask for the authority to perform their duty. They influence people around them and get their required results. Organizations seek for such leaders who perform in unfriendly circumstances. Everything cannot be written in the books and charters. A leader has to understand the need of the hour and perform according to the company’s vision instead of waiting for HR to give him authority to perform his duty.
   
   
5. Do not wait for having the best teamOrganizations do not hire those who are not beneficial for them. The hiring criteria may have flaws, the hiring authorities may need improvement but it does not mean that the whole team cannot perform. If the team is not unable to give its best performance, then the leader needs to improve first. People are blessed with different strengths. A leader must know what those strengths are and how to use them effectively. Define roles according to their strengths and get best out of them and work with them to improve their weak areas.
   
   
6. Help the employees in achieving their dreamsEmployees more satisfied when they discuss the possibilities of their growth in organizational hierarchy. They dream for next position. Help them, guide them, share the possibilities and challenges, strengths and areas of improvement of the employee and materialize his dream by implementing The SMART Goals formula. Their dreams will help the organizations and the leader grow.
   
   
7. Experiences different leadership styles in different situationsA common and very obvious error the leaders make in organizations is; they experience one leadership style in different situations. Such mistakes not only hurt leader’s image but are against the organization’s benefits as well. Leaders must know the leadership style and the situations to exhibit them.

Leadership Styles:According to Kurt Lewin, there are three different leadership styles which a leader needs to practice especially in business organizations. The description and where these styles fit best are being discussed here;

a.    Authoritarian leaders provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. Decision-making is less creative under authoritarian leadership. Abuse of this style is usually viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial. Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group.

b.    Participative leaders (also known as Democratic leaders) offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other members. Participative leaders encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say over the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative

c.     Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave decision-making up to group members. While this style can be effective in situations where group members are highly qualified in an area of expertise, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation.

None of these leadership styles are good or bad. It is the situation which makes it so. Leaders should be careful in responding to the situations as their responses have a greater impact on their people. All of the discussed leadership styles should be practiced in certain situations.
The organizations need to focus on training their leaders to deal with the expected Leadership Crisis in 2015. They should find people who have made a choice to be leaders, train them on different styles and guide what traits they should have, to be an effective leader. Handling Crisis 2015 will not be difficult task then.