The need for EXTREME Leadership

We are witnessing extreme times. I never thought I could write that sentence with a straight face. But it is true. The level of complexity and gut-wrenching pressure that corporate leaders are dealing with today is unprecedented. The latest public evidence of our times is the suicide of Freddie Mac CFO, David Kellerman. It may be presumptous to link the tragedy directly to the pressures at Freddie, but to say that his worklife had no role to play in the event will be disingenuous.

Most of us are not, thankfully, being grilled by the SEC everyday. But we are living through uncertainty, negativity, heightened interpersonal dissonance, and no sense of direction on a daily basis. If you are not, feel free to stop reading the rest of this post.

How does a leader navigate through these times? Especially when one feels more like a victim of the waves than the captain of the ship? How does one get to work every morning, ignore one's own personal travails, rally the troops, chart the course ... all the good stuff that leadership gurus tell us we must be doing?

A good point to start is to make a list. This will sound a little cute for some, but I have tried to distill out 7 things that define our challange today ... using the anagram EXTREME (ok, so sue me :-))

1. Energy: Called upon to implement tough, unpopular measures, we are finding it difficult to renew and refresh ourselves and bring our personal energy to inspire others

2. X-factor : Jeff Immelt has characterized the downturn as ‘a reset, not a cycle’. The future will have no precedence. Uncertainty will remain high, calling for constant change in direction.

3. Trust : Trust and confidence in leaders is at an all-time low – reducing the traction that we need to get things done through others. Harvard published a report last week noting that 80% of Americans do not trust corporate leaders, 50% of managers don't trust their bosses. Wow.

4. Retention: Dis-engaged and de-motivated talent is keen to move on … waiting for the market to turn. If you think I am crazy, look at the growth in linkedin membership - you will be amazed.

5. Expectations : Leaders will be challenged to continuously achieve significantly more …. with significantly less … now. The more we squeeze, the more we will be expected to squeeze in the future.

6. Motivation: The overwhelming anxiety of losing one’s job is a negative motive force for employees - making it difficult for leaders to positively engage their teams. If you try to cheer people up with optimism you will sound insincere. And, by the way, HR just took out your entire budget for rewarding strong performers.

7. Experience : Managers have little to no experience of leading through similar periods of prolonged downturns - leaders (45 years) today, were in school (18 years) in the early 80’s. In ex-Japan Asia, leaders, even at the top, have not experienced long recessions in their worklives ... ever.

Once you have this list, get cracking on a plan. For each item, think of the following.

- Is this challenge germain to my situation? Should I tackle this now, or leave it for later?
- What ideas can I generate that can work in my environment?
- Who should I talk to, to get more ideas and perspectives on this issue?
- How can I get my team to discuss this, openly, and come up with tactics to address the challenge on the ground?

I have built mine. I realized quickly that, for me, energy, x-factor and experience are the top 3 biggies for the first 100 days. I have a list of about 30 people that I want to talk to about these 3 things. I also have a list of attack-ideas that may or may not work - I'll find out pretty soon.

Try it. At least it will give you a break from staring at the spreadsheet that tells you that your business just had a terrible quarter.

On a personal note ...

3 weeks ago I took a decision to leave my company where I have spent most of my career. The decision itself was easy. It was a rational decision based on opportunity, risk and the ability to follow my dreams. What happened after that took me by surprise.

People build their worlds around what they think is real. I am no different. My own reality centered around "what I did". My own achievements, my relationships and my personal challenges constituted the reality that I owned and nurtured. What I have realized over the last 3 weeks is that when you lead, you create a reality for those who choose to follow you. And when you decide to change your reality, it affects others deeply, in often un-intended ways.

I have spent the last few days dealing with the reality of others. It has been an amazing experience. I have come to notice that my impact on others was greater than I could ever imagine possible. The more I under-estiamte this impact, the less effective I become as a leader. By that order, I realized that I have not been very effective after all.

To all my colleagues who feel the impact of my decision ... I am sorry. Not for the decision itself, but for not taking the time to work with you in managing the impact. For being too focused on my reality and ignoring yours.

As I take on my new challenge, I am making a quiet promise to myself.

I will be aware of my impact ... at all times.

Tomorrow's leaders must vow to rid the world of the hubris, greed and self-interest of yesterday's boardrooms. As I embark on a journey to build tomorrow's leaders, I know that I will need to 'walk the talk'. Might as well make a start.

To everybody who has made the last 11 years of my life worth every minute ...

... Thank you.

Indro