To say these are challenging economic times for most Nigerians would be an understatement. Officially, we are in a recession. I do not believe that anyone would have fully anticipated the current economic clime, two years ago. As such, as I contemplated on the topic to discuss today (and next week), only one thing came to my mind – investing in our growth to blossom in the rainy days.
I have written in a previous edition of this column that we often find reasons to blame everyone and everything but ourselves for our predicaments in difficult circumstances. It seems that this is a natural thing for humans. My submission today is that we need to look ourselves in the mirror as individuals and see what part we have played in making life comfortable or uncomfortable for ourselves today.
For countries and companies, we talk about “saving for the rainy day.” When you have an economic boom or consistent and stable monetary inflow as an entity – individual, corporate or government – knowing what the optimum mix of save, spend and invest should be, could be the difference in economic positions between you and your peer who has had exactly the same opportunity.
There is so much happening in life as to distract one from their goal. The discipline to have a vision and focus on the imperatives to attaining one’s destiny is a mark of leadership and maturity. I offer today that individuals’ ability or lack of it to absorb today’s economic shock is largely a result of the investment and discipline they have applied in their growth journey, without exactly knowing how soon or how intense the economic challenge would be.
Let me start with the case of the leader investing in his team. It goes without saying that if a leader values his people, he would surely grow them. He makes time for development conversations with his direct reports and others he works with. He gives very honest, unemotional and direct feedback without being invited to do so and puts the team under his wing and guides them.
Growth comes in different forms – capability (people mix this up with capacity – separate conversation for another day), leadership and soft skills (i.e. etiquette). A true professional cannot be sycophantic upwards or downwards – he needs to mature into a place of being comfortable in his own skin. In other words, growth brings confidence (as distinct from arrogance) and enables employees interact upwardly with no fear of inferiority complex or intimidation with their own bosses and downwardly with no fear of vulnerability to their subordinates, no feeling of “they are smarter and will potentially take over my job.”
We often make the mistake of thinking that a tough leader is necessary a bad one; but I have read the testimonies of people who have attributed their success in life to their tough parents, teachers or bosses at work. Some leaders tend to scold their team reasonably (to help them attain desired standards) but also stand up for same people when required. No conflicts. I remember when I was leading the marketing team of Coca-Cola in late 90’s, there were members of the team who I truly enjoyed working with, but who nonetheless could not comprehend why I was fairly hard on them. But in reality, when I got in front of the MD and the Exco, I fought like no one else to seek career opportunities for them with the result that some members of the Exco truly thought I was inseparable from my team. So here was I with a reputation of “too tough” amongst my team and yet “too protective of his people” amongst the Exco.
I have written before on some of the tools available for coaching people: training, symposia, seminars, ‘career open days’ (say half yearly or quarterly to help counsel employees on career paths), one-on-one mentorship sessions, etc. There is also the half yearly performance appraisals process (though because this is tied to annual increases and bonuses, it is incredibly subjective and often relegated to a platform for settling scores).
There are so many ways a leader can grow their people and increasingly, leaders are becoming more creative. I remember in one of my previous CEO roles, we had an approach to developing leaders whereby if a sales director went on leave, we got the finance director, for example to relieve him. It was weird, but we did it because we considered that the best leaders need not be the most technically gifted in the team; so when the leader was on leave the company should not lose anything technically. It was also a way of testing the leadership capabilities of the leader assigned a relief role in a non-familiar skill setting.
A leader must not be quick to write off his people, as doing so may create negative energy and tension in the team. A leader needs to create space for the people that report to him. He mentors and supports them grow their career. He must not build chemistry with only the people he likes. He must make himself available to his team. He gets the importance of people and the connection with people. He helps people get clarity on what they want to do for their careers and how to get there. When he develops you, he cuts to the core. For him, the measure of success is in seeing a stepping up of performance of his team.
Hopefully, you see that the thread running through this subject is that growing your people is not an option – especially given the economic uncertainty of the future. A strong leader must see their people as being critical to their own success and create supportive structures and environment where all employees feel valued and strive to reach their full potential; if only because the team is only as strong as its weakest link.
Have a wonderful week!
END
Be the first to comment