‘Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee’
The tension in the room is thick. The heavy debate that has just ensued has seemingly driven personal relationships to the brink of destruction. Now the parties, positioned on opposite sides of the board table, sit staring into each other’s eyes with looks that could kill. Each side blaming the other for the company’s woes, for the loss in market position. It is an impasse. A tipping point in their relationship beyond which they seemingly will not recover. The team leader who should naturally steer the debate away from the current standoff sits quietly in his corner, not wanting to take one side or the other. Then suddenly a voice cracks the ice-cold atmosphere. “We can fix this!” the voice booms. Everyone turns to see the usually quiet assistant sales lead on his feet. He is accepting to take responsibility for turning the company’s fortunes! He is taking responsibility for making happen what the rest of the team has failed to do! He is answering the call for a leader!
I’m sure you have been here before.
The discourse on how we as individuals should stand tall in whichever forum, situation or position and take responsibility, whether personal or collective, remains dominant in most leadership debates. Although opinions vary on what eventually creates leaders, all agree that leadership is born when one answers a call greater than himself/herself. A cause calls and creates a leader, not vice versa. The question though remains, “What qualities does one need to develop in order to effectively heed that call?”
The fist point of call is quite obviously situational awareness. You could be in a situation that requires you to stand up and be counted but totally miss the moment by not being able to recognise the call when it comes. Situational awareness is not only about being involved in the conversation but also about possessing the sixth sense that enables you to sniff out the need, and the opportunity. Debate abounds as to how to develop that sixth sense, the biggest of which is whether it is by nature or nurture.
Secondly you must possess the courage to delve into the unknown. Pessimists point out that the graveyards of history are littered with the brave, but the truth is that without those brave souls we would probably still be in the Stone Age. Many of history’s great leaders, from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs, from Alexander the Great to Nelson Mandela, did not allow procrastination and fear of the unknown to get in the way of them taking that leap of faith. Their courage to delve into the unknown is why they will be discussed in history books for a long time to come.
Although criticism and feedback, especially of the negative type, can be bitter pills to swallow for ordinary folks, they are like candy to great leaders. The ability to use criticism to shape your decisions into more pragmatic ones can only happen if you are willing to listen to those that don’t agree with you in the first place. Big leaders surround themselves with people who are willing to tell them the truth, whether good or bad, and use that truth to shape better destiny. This is in stark contrast to weaker leaders who only want to hear good things about themselves. Leaders who fall into this latter category are bound to either be judged rather harshly by the courts of history or be forgotten rather quickly by the same courts.
Personal awareness is a big one. How do you lead anybody, or for that matter anything, without personal purpose? Purpose defines who you are and what you stand for. It is what wakes you up every morning and what builds the spring in your every step. Leadership without purpose is like a ship on the ocean with no sail, going by the mercies of the wind and waves with the risk of capsizing at any moment. Armed with clear purpose, leaders will guide their ships towards aligned destinations. Having a clear destiny means you possess foresight. With foresight you are able to craft a clear pathway of actions to lead you there.
Finally, as you grow through your leadership journey you are bound to come across a number of instances when you are faced with several, and many times divergent, views from which you need to make a call. Steering yourself out of that maze requires an ability to draw all the submitted opinions into clear strands that you can see both through and around. Great leaders are armed with this ability. Reconciling divergent views can be very stressful and in my opinion is an area where experience comes into play.
In conclusion, if you harbour intentions of growing into leadership you need to put your peaceful self at risk of being interrupted by the sound of the leadership bell calling, and the next time you hear it, ‘ask not for whom it tolls’ but rather wake up to the truth that ‘it tolls for thee’, as advised by the English poet /scholar John Donne.
Mark Ocitti is the Managing Director of Serengeti Breweries Limited
