THE ALCHEMY OF LEADERSHIP

What makes a good leader has been a question researched for ages. Yet, the right formula has not been convincingly found. This is one reason why most management schools seem to be obsessed with the leadership conundrum. Of the many basics skills that they aim to instil in management students, leadership is one, perhaps the most critical one. Seemingly for this reason, many of the seminars, conferences, symposia and workshops focus on leadership development. It was for this reason that a reasonably reputed management school of Varanasi had organised an International conference on the subject Alchemy of Leadership for Sustainability and Innovation recently.

This columnist had the opportunity to be a part of the deliberations both as an invited speaker and a session chair in a plenary. Listening to the myriad of views from practitioners and academics, students and researchers far and wide the one essential leadership attribute that could be filtered from the welter of ideas and information was that effective leaders need to be persons of substance driven by some core values that help them take ethically sound decisions. But, then there were as many views as individuals as to what was the basis of arriving at those ethically sound decisions and what were those core values that would drive those decisions. In other words what is that alchemy, the chemistry of an effective leader? No easy answers. But we now realize that effective leadership is more about ethical leadership than anything else. To put it more succinctly it is some unique combination of the head and the heart that helps a leader arrive at or choose the right decisions from the information jungle that is now available due to sophisticated technology and makes choice a matter of serious intrapersonal conflict. One advantage that the modern day leaders have over their previous generation counterparts is the availability of choice.

But this also is a major dis advantage which they face. What is that right choice? Theories may not be able to provide the right cues and clues given the wide array of situations which leaders have to face. But looking at the actions that leaders take may give some inkling as to what is ethical leadership. Coming to the chemistry of an ethical leader, we have to look at people with proven leadership credentials. And what better example than Lord Krishna, the real hero of the Mahabharata war. The first attribute that we need to understand about leader is that he makes things happen. His role is that of a catalyst. Like that of Manganese Dioxide in the production of oxygen. In our chemistry laboratory classes our school teachers used to tell us that Manganese Dioxide did not part take in the reaction. Yet, its presence was crucial for production of oxygen. This was the role Lord Krishna played in Mahabharata war. He did not take part in the war. Yet, his role was crucial for the victory of Pandavas. There are other important aspects of the leader chemistry.

He must have a high boiling point, that is, should keep cool in worst of the situations. He should have high melting point also. A leader needs to be driven by empathy and not sympathy. Further, a leader also has to be malleable and ductile. Must be strong, yet soft, tough yet not brittle. Most of these properties are qualities of gold. An effective leader is like gold having a natural shine that doesn’t fade.