Leadership can be defined as the art of guiding an individual, a group or an organization towards predefined goals. Leadership is generally touted as an art, meaning that it is largely a reflection of the character and style of its possessors. However it must also be remembered that every leader or manager does use a combination of theory and practice in guiding the organization towards achieving its goals. In that context, leadership reflects the leader’s values, experience and capabilities in dealing with situations where the outcome is unpredictable and dependent on a host of changing factors and circumstances. Success as a leader would therefore depend on individual responses to a situation that may be novel for the organization. Effective leadership would therefore be a combination of the intellect, energy, courage, temperament and other core values of the leader. However it would be foolish to ignore the distilled wisdom and thoughts of management scientists and practitioners of the discipline in our culture. Leadership is not static but dynamic- it must continually evolve, as the world must keep learning.

The business organizations of today are increasingly affected by the rapid pace of technological, commercial and managerial changes, hitherto incomparable in terms of pace, magnitude, complexity and the absence of certainty. Effective leadership requires a paradigm shift in thinking- the ability to manage (a) overcoming the fear of failure (b) moving out of traditional comfort zones (c) risk taking (d) breaking the mould (e) testing and busting the boundaries and (f) recognizing the need for learning and continual updating of knowledge and understanding.
Is leadership an inborn talent (natural) or can it be taught and learned (nurtured)? While there is no definite conclusion on this point, much has been written to support both arguments. Two well-known theories of leadership are those that have been put forward by John Adair (Functional Leadership Model) and Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard (Situational Leadership Model). Adair defines leadership in terms of its results, namely: 1.Achieving the task.2. Building and maintaining the team.3. Developing the individual. According to Hersey and Blanchard, the concept of ‘functioning maturity’, underlying situational leadership reflects the degree to which people can – and will – do what is expected of them, in terms of effective job performance. Functioning is thus represented in the form of a progressive continuum of behavior. The application of this theory seeks to determine behavioral characteristics in the role of the leader. Sun-Tzu in his classic work “The Art of War” underlines seven aspects of leadership that can be assessed: 1. Competence and readiness to keep learning open. 2. Sense of purpose and commitment to goals. 3. Self discipline and self respect. 4. Achievement and accomplishments. 5. Sense of accountability and responsibility. 6. Ability to build effective relationships. 7. Readiness to lead by example. Tom Cummings goes on to determine what are the moral and psychological drives behind principle-centered leadership. They are: 1. Avoid ‘pain’ and hassle (stay in ‘comfort zone’). 2. Self-interest (what’s in it for me?). 3. Seeking approval and accolades (vanity and self-glorification). 4. Principle of law (what is legal and required, what is illegal). 5. Long term interests (preservation of the business).6. Do what is right to do (the ethical position).

Taking the point of view that leadership is a mass of different skills than can be learned, the leader-in-training passes through four different stages in picking up a skill: (1) unconscious incompetence (2) conscious incompetence (3) conscious competence and (4) unconscious competence. At the last stage, the skilled expert experiences a flow with the nature of the task. Mastery in leadership is a synthesis of IQ, emotional intelligence, experience, acquired competence – and a good fortune. It is also about being able to trigger and mobilize willing synergy and commitment among others in the collective pursuit of changing goals in conditions of uncertainty, insecurity and contradiction. Wisdom in leadership probably begins with the recognition that there is no one ‘right’ of doing things. Leadership is about balancing the demands of the task with the needs and expectations of the people involved.’ In the realm of leadership activity, we move along a continuum from Doing to Improving to Changing and Developing to Integrating and Synthesizing to Mastery. In terms of communication and leadership level, becoming a Master Leader is characterized by peak communication. The leader’s ‘political’ maturity and acumen, ability to influence others and make things happen, within networks of complex organizational and power relationships, is very important. Caroline Egri of the Simon Fraser University, Canada, identifies eight actions, or behaviors, to ensure political survival:1. Enhance your personal power and influence. 2. Increase your centrality and criticality within the business. 3. Raise your visibility around the place. 4. Strengthen and reinforce your relevance in the organization. 5. Increase your flexibility, but preserve your integrity – as a person and as a member of the organization. 6. Use reason, reciprocity and retribution wisely. 7. Learn how to counter them effectively. 8. Empower your people and draw on the strength of your team as an organizational entity. The effectiveness of the leader also depends upon the environment or organizational culture in which he operates. In contrast to the closed ‘domain management’ culture that characterize older organizations, there is today a move towards an open culture, which is characterized by I)Continually changing, renewing and re-organizing II) Open culture, with the major focus on ‘what’, not ‘who’ needs changing III) Interdependent and cross-functionally oriented with high emphasis upon ‘networking’ communication styles and multidisciplinary working and, thus outputs IV) ‘Outwards’, as well as ‘inwards’ leadership and role focus, aimed at seeking coalitions, partnerships and alliances. V) High adaptability and flex in organizational response, work roles and goals and availability of contributive competence – as situations and demands change, with consequent multiplicity of transient ‘We’s’ and ‘us’s’ as teams organically arise, live and ‘die’ VI) Effective use of systems as stabilizing, consistency – ensuring processes VII) Consequent proactive and reactive versatility and innovation VIII) Shared vision and values largely replace traditional role structures, as ‘like minds’, and ‘kindred spirits’ articulate and synthesize new common purpose, missions and goals IX) Leader concentrates upon energizing, facilitating and coaching the process. There is thus a need for at least two different, but complementary leadership roles: ‘Inwards’ – focused leadership, which concentrates upon the ‘internal life’ of the team. Fulfilling the three functions of leadership identified in John Adair’s action-centered leadership model. Focusing on follower functional maturity (Hersey-Blanchard parameters) and therefore the levels of ‘skill and will’ of team members. ‘Outwards’ – focused leadership, which relates the team (or business) to its wider operating environment and network of external relationships. Operating within organizational boundaries, there is a tension or mistrust that needs to be addressed if the new thinking is to be implemented effectively in the organization. Change is more readily accepted if we take the following steps: 1. Confirm pressure/need for change. 2. Communicate vision. 3.

Confirm goals, strategies and competencies to bring about transformation. 4. Win and mobilize key ‘hearts and minds’. 5. Implement strategies with sequential action. 6. Follow-up and follow through. Understanding something of the dynamics of group behavior and the processes underlying transactions between people is fundamental to effective leadership. In order to function with optimum effectiveness, a business needs at least three interrelated forms of leadership: one which brings about requisite task performance and goal achievement, one to generate and maintain the commitment of its members, and. another to ensure continuity of congruence between the requirements of the task, and people’s needs and expectations. Preparing the organization for the future necessitates that the leader has a vision or blue print of the desired state of affairs. In this role, the leader is entrusted with the following tasks: 1. Create an intelligible picture of a desired future organizational state of affairs 2. Identify the most likely paths to the attainment of that set of conditions 3. Evolve the most effective ways of communicating and sharing the vision in order to mobilize, motivate and empower people in the attainment of the desired and visualized future state of the business. The hallmarks of leadership necessary to mobilize talent, energy and commitment, in order both to create and capitalize upon identified opportunities for success, include the ability to articulate relevant, realistic vision, intelligent anticipation, skill in evoking and mobilizing synergy, integrative competence, courage to overcome fear of failure and risk aversion, and the personal credibility that comes from integrity, as well as competence. However, of prime importance is the capacity to identify, develop and manage people’s current skills and abilities in ways that grow the competencies needed to take the business forward and so secure its future.

The effective leader of today is also involved in a coaching role, as he teaches his subordinates and understudies how to unlock and develop their potential in order to maximize performance and growth. It involves helping someone to help themselves and learn by doing so. Coaching is about helping people to see and do things more effectively, building a relationship of partnership and mutual trust, creating a sense of awareness and responsibility within the individual, so that he or she will take ownership of a problem – and, hence, its solution. In the opinion of researchers and analysts, from a coach’s viewpoint, twelve key coaching behaviors emerge as contributors towards success: i)Give time to each other ii)Give people a chance to talk – and listen to them iii) Give focused, specific feedback iv) Show (and encourage) initiative and innovation v) Ask for and offer help vi) Recognize – and manage individual differences vii) Start from where people are – not from where you want them to be viii) Process issues/differences within the group ix) Question, clarify and check for understanding. Use ‘open’ questions that encourage the other person to think and respond x) Reflect on how things are going – ask how the other person sees progress xi) Create and develop – build – don’t knock down xii) Do things on time. If you say you will take action – make sure you take it (or explain why you cannot).

Different people generate different coaching needs and problems- experience has shown that a leader will generally come across one or more of the following types in his role as a coach: the emotional individual, the hostile or manipulative, the confused and chaotic, the minimalist and malevolent, the bright young brash pain in the arse, and the older individual. The coach will have to deal with each of them in a separate manner to produce results. The development of a successful approach to coaching and development could involve the following steps: i. Agree issue or task for development ii. Identify the goals and objectives iii. Promote discovery: listen –probe – share experience iv. Set the parameters v. Delegate vi. Authorize and empower vii. Recap and review viii. Follow up and follow through. An action oriented coaching effort will most likely proceed along the following lines: 1. Improving written and oral communication 2. Interpersonal skills 3. Self management 4. Follow-up and follow through 5. Creative problem solving 6. Developing strategic awareness and competence.

The core activity in leadership and management is decision making. In the role of manager one operates somewhere between absolute autonomy and complete helplessness, with most important decisions have to be made in an atmosphere of insufficient data and information, inadequate resources, inconsistent backing and direction, and frequently in conditions of contradiction, conflict and confusion. The leader’s task is to make sense of, impose some control or influence over and manage imperfection. As a decision-maker, the leader’s role is to create relevant order, coherence and committed synergy, through others, over events frequently outside his or her direct control and in operating environments where little certainty exists. Most approaches to rational, purposive decision making, function on a basis of the following stages:1. Awareness or recognition (a signal) that a problem exists. 2. Definition of the problem, or issue (deviation from expectations or from the norm). 3. Agreement of remedial/change goals (what outcomes people want to achieve and avoid). 4. Explanation of possible optional courses of action – and their respective likely consequences. 5. Evaluation, deliberation – and decision on course of action. 6. Follow-up – follow through – with revision if necessary. The attributes of proper decision making of a Master Leader are that : 1. That leader is aligned with the vision, mission and core goals of the business, and is integrated into the power structure of the organization. 2. He or she is able to operate at an appropriate level of competence, confidence and hence managerial maturity. The master leader is therefore a combination of Custodian, Operator and Maverick, who behaves and uses those strategies that are needed in order to solve a particular problem or go a certain route. The breadth and level of individual leader’s conceptual ‘horizons’ will determine the scope, range and time scale of his or her decisions. The ‘swamp’ is the area of personal ignorance, confusion and doubt, in an individual’s problem analysis and decision-making, which is characterized by lack of real ‘know-how’. Beyond each person’s individual ‘swamp’ of confusion and ignorance is a more or less universal ‘terra incognita’ defined by uncertainty, speculation, challenge and potential opportunity. In the processes of continuous learning and personal development, the ‘swamp’ should be constantly pushed back as the individual leader learns to raise his or her game on a basis of greater understanding of the longer term implications and ramifications of decisions, and awareness of the organization as a whole, and its broader relationships to its operational and strategic environments.

The effective leader of today is most likely the leader of a team. Teams are an essential means of optimizing talent and energy, in the pursuit of task objectives. They also provide a means of support, sense of belonging and psychological nourishment to the team members. The development of leaner, flatter and more efficient organizational structures has led to cross-functional and project group working through teams on an unprecedented scale. Espousing teamwork, organizations nevertheless encourage the use of people’s talents i.e. individual competence in fulfilling an increasing number of different roles within widening spheres of team activity. Leading teams effectively involves recognizing the signals and indications of teams’ distinctive cultures and also the expectations and aspirations of team members in their behavioral arenas that constitute team culture and therefore, provide clues about team’s achievement potential. The success and effectiveness of the team and its members will eventually be defined by the team task, values, members preferences, and the pre-dispositions (called Drivers) of the team members. The ability of a team to show its creativity and innovative-ness is judged by its fluency, variety, originality, insight, determination and it is the leader’s insight, perceptiveness, ‘power competence’, energy and communicated confidence in the team, that act as triggers to members’ preparedness to develop, grow and perform as an effective, high achieving team. Initiatives come equally from the membership as from the leaders. Directive leadership has its place in situations requiring a rapid, unified focus. Longer term, however, it is shared accountability for the learning, development and progressive transformation of the team that generally creates the conditions for sustained high achievement.

The book is a synthesis of the description, roles, attributes and challenges faced by the leaders of today. Starting with the role of the manager/leader in today’s business world, it looks at theories explaining the nature and role of leadership, the attributes of a leader and how these can be learned and developed. It looks at the manager/ leader operating under different constraints with the boundaries of organizational cultures. Thereafter the book touches upon coaching, decision making, and team building and leading as the most important tasks and attributes of a leader/ manager. It is an interesting treatise on what it takes to be a leader. Reading the book makes a person cognizant of the different tasks and facets of leadership. The book would serve as one of interest to the general reader. It would definitely help the manager or leader of today’s organization, giving him an insight into his role and enriching his perspective.