The Hindu Business Line : Strategic vacuum

Everyone covets success for the satisfaction, power and money it brings. But the price is stiff indeed in terms of hard work, stress and exertion over a long time. The road to success is paved with blood, sweat and tears!

While most of the factors that contribute to success are well documented, the pain of loneliness is often ignored. And yet, loneliness is a defining characteristic of the rarified atmosphere of the higher echelons of management.

Continuous scrutiny

When you are at the top of the totem pole, you walk alone! Everyone in the organisation is looking up to you and at you. Continuous scrutiny of every word and deed goes with the territory. Not only that, everything you say and do is interpreted, amplified and distributed down and across, into the nooks and crannies of the organisation. Perceptions about you are built and acted upon; the reality may be far different but perceptions drive behaviour. Your image becomes a brand that may be far different from the real you.

So, when you lead an organisation you need to operate in a state of heightened awareness. While being continuously aware of trends, behaviours, information, propensity for manipulation, probable problems, solutions and feedback, you also need absolute clarity of purpose and a rock solid commitment to ethics and fair-play.

Your own biases, likes and dislikes don’t figure in the equation at all. What matters is only the welfare of the organisation and its people. All this needs to be woven together with clear and continuous communication to all the stakeholders. All the people around you must see that there is not even a chink of a gap between what you say and what you do. That’s when you make the transition from being a good manager to a great leader.

With all this weighing on your shoulders, whom do you unload on? Who can understand you and your situation? Who can you turn to for advice? Who can you trust with confidential information? Who can encourage and nurture you? Who can you bounce ideas off? Who can help and share in the big decisions? The sad truth is hardly anyone!

Peculiar dynamics

That’s because organisations breed two peculiar dynamics: as the boss you are always being told what you want to hear and people keep an emotional distance from you. This happens insidiously and unless you are particularly alert to the chasm between what you are being told and the reality, you fall victim to it. That’s why leaders operate in what I call a strategic vacuum: the space between what the organisation is communicating and your own clarity of purpose, character and competence.

It’s desperately lonely at the top! That’s why you need to create a solid support system: rich relationships with your team, a loving environment at home and, perhaps, a mentor who can nurture and guide you without a vested interest.

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