The profile of a successful leader

The profile of a successful leader

As we celebrate Boss’ Day today, Amogh Deshmukh enlists the core competencies of a successful leader

 

 

When people ask me how a profile of a successful leader aka boss at the front should be, I always tend to tell them ‘keep it simple’.
Let’s split the job of the frontline leader into four parts:  

 

1 What people know: You need him/her to possess the right knowledge. This could be pertaining to one’s education, professional qualification, certifications, etc;  

 

2 What people have done: Then you also want him/her to come with relevant experience places he/she has worked before, the kind of skills he/she needs for the job, so on and so forth;  

 

3 What people can do: These are the behaviours that I get to the job.These are things I am capable of doing.We all categorise them as ‘behavioural competencies’.The good news is that most of these are trainable and developable;  

 

4 Who people are: This is a deep-rooted phenomenon. And often people are conditioned to behave in a certain manner. It’s something we can’t change but knowing them makes us understand the behaviour and take informed decisions.They are the least trainable on the developmental continuum and can really only be managed. We came up with nine core competencies under three main domains – interaction essentials (competencies that are the foundation for the other competencies), leading others (applying the essentials) and making decisions and planning (managing the business). 

 
Interaction essentials
— Managing relationship 

— Guiding interactions Leading others
— Coaching for success  

— Coaching for improvement 

— Influencing 

— Delegation and empowerment Making decisions and planning
— Problem / opportunity analysis 

— Judgement 

— Planning and organising 

 

So where does the gap exist? Why don’t we see a positive needle movement? Why is the ground situation not changing? While some feel it’s organisations’ take on the responsibility to develop leaders and build a stronger pipeline, many often say that it is an HR agenda. As we try to close this gap, it’s important for organisations that they focus on making this learning a journey rather than an one-time event. There have to be enough touch-points for managers and their direct subordinates to discuss and work out solutions for their development areas and there has to be a regular and scientific way of tracking progress. 

- The author is key member - leadership, Development Dimensions International