The Challenge of Leadership
Leadership challenges rarely have a straight-line or ‘technical’ answer. They mostly come with an ‘adaptive component’ i.e. the part of the challenge that does not have a precedence or a structure to go by. Therefore, it requires a unique response from the person at the helm.
What shapes this unique response of an effective leader?
Again, no straight-line answers. Some of the factors that are known to help shape the response are:
Ø Overarching purpose as the guiding force
Ø Mapping the stakeholders of the issue at hand
Ø Engagement with the stakeholders- first to understand their perspective and then to present their own; co-creating solutions as required
Ø Given the time and resources available, choosing to diffuse the disagreements / conflicts or confront the issues / assumptions or build a coalition with the stakeholders
Ø evaluating options and finally, develop a broad-based agreement / ownership on the course to be taken
Ø Once a decision is arrived at, decisive action and implementation
What guides your response to leadership challenges?
What are the patterns you have observed in other leaders?
