Essentials for impactful leadership!

What is Leadership ? Is it a position ? 

Does it have gender, age, inheritance, geography or educational qualifications ?

YES and NO but I would tend to incline more towards a NO. Leadership is better described ‘as a mindset’ irrespective of the above. It is a set of traits that a person exhibits. 

As someone once said, a Leader is one who has the 

• Skin of a rhino
• Courage of a soldier
• Compassion of a mother
• Understanding of a friend
• Patience of a saint

Each of us has either some of them or all of them in different measures. How we nurture these traits for our own goals and organisational development is the question.

Let me focus on the IMPACT part of the leadership (addressing women Company Secretaries at the ICSI 2nd National Women Company Secretaries’ Conference on 22nd March, 2024 at Bangalore).

1. When we say Inspire – where do you look for inspiration ? It should be within. If you find the WHY you will find the HOW to achieve a goal. Motivation is external but inspiration is internal. For every task, every phase in life find the WHY. Once you find compelling reasons to do something, the path becomes clear.
2. Manage relationships – as a Company Secretary the universe of relationships is much bigger. Begin with yourself, your body, your mind first. How well are you connected with yourself ? Don’t be guilty about self-care. Nah, it is not being selfish or self-centred. Next comes family, colleagues, boss, regulators, government, board etc. Unless you learn to trust and delegate, you cannot achieve much. Whether creating a support system at home or a trustworthy team at office, you are only as good as your team. From my cancer days, I recall that when left with no option I just trusted my team to deliver. In between treatment I would review but work would never stop. Best example was the covid crisis when all of us had to trust each other working remotely. A crisis brings out the best in us. 
3. Personal branding – each one is a brand of her own. Be authentic, be credible. Build to last. While you can find role models, discover the real YOU and work on it. This is not a social media profile, it is your persona, your value system, your beliefs. A Sudha Murty can’t be a Nita Ambani or a Indra Nooyi or a Smrithi Irani. Why even 2 sisters can’t be the same. Don’t be shy of creating this personal branding that defines you. It shines through your behaviour, your conduct, your consistency, your utterances and the way your live life.
4. Ask – As women with multiple responsibilities, I wouldn’t advocate becoming a Durga with 16 hands though as Shakthi that’s how we are depicted. While we have great strength let’s not glorify multi-tasking which is not good in the long run. Ask for help. Clearly communicate what you want – both at home and profession. Be it support system, be it flexibility, be it a new assignment, be it a hike, be it a travel. Women fall shy of asking, thinking it is an indicator of weakness. My good friend and corporate trainer Srividya says,
   
   WE are not as weak as we perceive

   WE are stronger than what we believe
   
   I wanted to resign when my 2nd son was born but the CEO voluntarily offered flexi hours when that concept was non-existent 25 years ago. Had he not broken the HR rules back then I wouldn’t have been where I am today. ASK. If you demonstrate value to the organisation, it is likely you will get what you ask. 

5. Compassion leads to empathy – Compassion comes from inner strength. In the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) world that we live in, a compassionate and empathetic leader becomes impactful.  Empathy means to be able to step into the shoes of another person, understand and respond. I relate to this and am able to deal with my employees and clients better by being empathetic. Some may want flexibility, some may want challenging assignment, some may want a pat on the back, some client may just want a sounding board. As a Company Secretary leader, up the EQ (empathy quotient) – present data the way the Board wants.  Visualise what they will require, how they would respond and tailor your documents and presentation accordingly.
6. Be transparent.  As governance professionals, transparency is the key. In my case I wrote to all the clients about my health condition. Didn’t lose a single one of them. A true leader is confident to show his vulnerable self to others and receive feedback.

A True Woman Leader : She is so Strong that she can be Gentle; She is so Educated that she can be Humble; She is so Fierce that she can be Compassionate; She is so Passionate that she can be Rational; and She is so Disciplined that she can be Flexible.

Are you such a leader?

As you reflect and add your comments, catch up with the quick summary of the regulatory changes that were announced by various ministries during March, 2024.

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