96 · EXPERTISE EXPERTISE · 97

UNLEASH POTENTIALS
The ability to create honest value
as a guiding star for successful leadership

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98 · EXPERTISE
BY UMASANKAR DIDDI
A
friend once said, a man is
honoured for what he gave
and not for what he re-
ceived. That seems like a common
thread with great personalities we
adore – be it reformists, scientists,
political heroes or business leaders.
We remember them for the positive
change that they have created not
just in our lives, but for many gen-
erations. Drawing leadership lessons
from their ways may be especially
beneficial to the corporate world in
today’s digital age.
Leaders that we cherish typically work
towards goals much greater than them-
selves. They are passionate about mak-
ing a real difference in the lives of the
many – fame and material riches are
only by-products of their efforts. They
work tirelessly, because pursuing a pas-
sion or working for a great cause moti-
vates them, even if it is gruelling. Work
and life are generally not viewed as dis-
tinct aspects that they feel compelled
to constantly balance – life happens at
work, too, where at least a third of the
day is typically spent. Even when their
initial goals are reached, they seek fur-
ther fulfilment through philanthropic
actions and by seeing others fulfilled.
Coexistence and interdependency are
natural underlying themes of their
journeys.
In day to day life too, seemingly
small and random acts of kindness and
cooperation can make a big difference
and seem to lift up the energy of the
givers, recipients as well as the indi-
viduals around them. The sustainable
efficiencies being achieved in the Nor-
dics and other Western European
countries are clearly reflective of
an alignment and bi-directional
flow between interdependent
elements. The natural phe-
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nomenon itself is sustained by a coop-
erative mix of the five basic elements:
ether, air, fire, water and land.
Corporate leaders have choices
to make – whether they want to cre-
ate wholesome outcomes for their
co-workers in a fast-paced world where
joy is short lived, or if they want to in-
spire and produce more such leaders or
if they want to make a real difference to
the many. If so, it is possible to incor-
porate many lessons from the above.
With an acute awareness of their
motivations and actions, senior lead-
ers need to objectively examine where
they are self-directed versus driven by
the common good. This demands a
high level of alertness and willingness
to rise above the narrow self, hypocrit-
ical ways and the focus on short term
wins. The gap between thought, word
and deed narrows, and leading comes
naturally. This is perhaps the only way
to inspire in the attention-deficient
day and age that we live in. Mahatma
Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin
Luther King Jr. are our inspiration here.
This also lends itself to keeping a focus
on simplification in a constantly evolv-
ing complex web of digitally-driven en-
terprises, and sets the tone for others to
follow. Living up to company values is
a case in study.
Individuals generally want to go
beyond themselves when they feel ad-
equately secure. They would like to
have a purpose in their career, make
a difference and be seen as a key con-
tributor in one way or the other, big or
small. By relating to this fundamental
need in every individual, enabling and
empowering them in an appropriate
manner, leaders can unleash tremen-
dous potential in individuals for the
greater good. Tapping into this aspect
at a fundamental level also builds trust
and strong long-term relationships.
When senior leaders do this, they are
directly shaping the corporate mindset
and culture. Automation and artificial
intelligence initiatives require focused
change management along these lines.
A brilliant leader once opened up
whole new possibilities for a great soft-
ware architect by encouraging and en-
abling him to apply himself beyond his
legacy focus, and to create unforeseen
value as the enterprise made forays into
new ways of doing business. The ability
to create real value as the business
evolves has then become a guiding star
for ‘super heroes’ who in the past held
knowledge close to their chests.
That ‘harmonisers are the heroes’
might apply more aptly to corporate
situations of today. Thankfully, many
of us are not dealing with survival.
Recognising the natural inter-depend-
ency and coexistence in all of life ena-
bles strong leaders to identify the key
moving parts, both internal and exter-
nal, and harmonise the dependencies
between them. The level of success
reflects the depth to which this is un-
derstood and orchestrated selflessly by
the leaders. The digital movement aims
to meet customers as well as co-work-
ers wherever they are, whenever and
however they want. Hence, the num-
ber of entities and movements between
them is exponentially increasing and
constantly changing at the same time.
Technology may be an enabler, but the
ability to stay on the real pulse of the
organisation, understanding and re-
sponding to complex situations in an
agile, sustainable and humane manner
will become a clear differentiator of ef-
fective leaders. Jeff Immelt has written
of the imperative for leaders to adopt
‘systems thinking’ to be successful with
digital transformations. Harmonis-
ers, sufficiently empowered, can place
a clear focus on functional activities
and steer their teams away from en-
ergy draining emotional conversa-
tions and negativity. Views that work
is radically distinct from life and can
also be significantly harmonised with
an approach of considering all daily
activity.
Actions and reactions, causes and
effects. Positive energy naturally re-
flects back positivity. Unscrupulous
indulgence in corporate politics, focus
on short-term wins over others’ heads
generate negative energy, long-last-
ing grudges and tit-for-tat behaviour.
People have an amazing ability to see
through the means very clearly and will
bring a natural resistance, even if hid-
den, to the agenda of leaders that get
ahead by hook or by crook. A win also
naturally means that there is a loss –
and most wins are so short lived in the
digital world. The clichéd ‘win-win’ is
rarely worked towards with a full heart.
We quite commonly see this at play
in client-supplier negotiations. When
both parties bring self-fulfilling agen-
das to the table beneath the veil of cre-
ating a win-win, it drains tremendous
energy out of the teams while gaining
little real benefit for either parties in
the long run. All in all, creating a pos-
itive environment that encourages the
right means of achieving success is a
sustainable choice.
Sustainability and corporate so-
cial responsibility efforts typically
tend to focus on the planet and on less
privileged social groups outside of an
enterprise. However, a view that sus-
tainability really starts with the indi-
viduals within an enterprise can be a
game changer. By inspiring a positive
work environment and outlook, we
are able to focus the collective ener-
gies of the teams in a sustainable and
effective manner. Creating a culture
that respects reflection time, provides
EXPERTISE · 99
sounding boards in the form of ex- of scientific approaches to self-devel-
ecutive coaches and mentors can be opment. Finally, in the high-paced
instrumental to sustainable success. digital world with minimal attention
This can in turn enable better choices spans and little reflection time, having
and approaches towards sustainability sounding boards in the form of coach-
and responsibility from a planet, cus- es and mentors might be an indispen-
tomer and societal perspective. The sable necessity of co-workers and sen-
Nordic countries, as champions of sus- ior leaders alike – to help them to go
tainability efforts, could possibly pave beyond themselves in a targeted and
the way here as well. At IKEA, for ex- contextual manner.
ample, creating a positive impact for
people, society and the planet is a key linkedin.com/in/udiddi
business priority – co-workers and the
working environment are central to
achieving it.
Adopting some of the above con-
siderations will likely yield a number of
benefits. To organisations, it can bring
a mindset of a holistically defining
their strategies and execution plans. In
the digital world, keeping up with the
individual and changing fragments is
not sustainable in the least. This un-
derstanding can open up new possi-
bilities and better the lives of the many.
The focus is on the long term with a
well-oiled and adaptable ecosystem of
interdependent levers. A positive envi-
ronment coupled with a sustainability
focus leads to a greater alignment of
plans and actions, thus reducing stress
and enhancing sensitivity and respon-
siveness to each other and to the organ-
isational needs.
Senior Leaders can take the op-
portunity to review their current ap-
proaches to digitalisation in light of
some of the above considerations and UMASANKAR DIDDI
streamline them to be more agile, sus- Umasankar Diddi is a management
tainable and effective. This can be done consultant with focus on IT and digi-
in a structured manner using the right tal strategy, agile and lean organisa-
assessments and tools. Additionally, tions and change management. He
leadership development in the digital is a certified executive coach and a
Cosmonaut of The Group of Analysts.
age and focus on the ‘employee experi-
Umasankar helps organisations and
ence’ are steps that many organisations individuals work towards their goals in
are taking. This can be further fortified a simple yet meaningful and effective
with some oriental wisdom in terms manner.
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