During the past century, two World Wars, a couple of other wars and many movies have glamourised the heroic leader. You know the type – male, muscled and manly. No weakness in these guys. They’re strong. They led their troops from the front. Well, maybe not literally, but they certainly liked to think they did.
They could make tough decisions, sacrificing other men’s lives in order to achieve their objectives. This strategy didn’t only apply in wartime. Ever heard of retrenchment? Other men revered them and spoke to them with respect. Women’s opinions didn’t really count – these leaders treated women with a modicum of courtesy but didn’t take what they said too seriously.
These leaders had, and have, minds as strong as their biceps. Theirs was and is a world of logic, black and white, no grey areas and no grey hair (many of them colour their hair to look younger). Things are either right or wrong, good or bad. So, making decisions in that kind of world’s pretty easy.
This leadership mindset survived for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. As with all things and people, it mellowed with time, but it hung in there, lurking in the minds of political and business leaders.
And then, at the end of 2019, Covid-19 arrived …
Employees were sent home and told to stay there. They were isolated from work colleagues, family and friends. They had to work on their own. They had to become surrogate teachers for their children. They lost friends and loved ones to the Angel of Death, who took lives with impunity. Many lost livelihoods, homes and possessions. Others simply lost their way, wondering what the point of life and their jobs was.
And the hero leaders, the ones who saw themselves as strong leaders? They. Just. Didn’t. Know. What. To. Do.
Why?
Because in a moment of time (actually in about a year), “strong” was redefined. No more did strong refer to male, manly and macho. Now, it referred to emotional intelligence not physical and mental toughness.
But let’s get personal.
If you were to assess yourself against the redefined strong leadership of a post Covid workplace, how strong a leader are you? Test yourself with these two questions. There are many more questions that could be asked, but I want to keep this brief.
Question 1: How strong is your self-awareness?
Leaders who don’t have sufficient self-awareness to realise that the old ways of leading will no longer work are in trouble. They will continue to lead as they did before, making so-called tough decisions in the interests of getting the business back on its feet again. No time for compassion and that airy fairy type of stuff.
Leaders who lack self-awareness lack the ability to reflect. They consequently think their decisions are always right and they react very badly to criticism of their decisions. That’s because they have an inability to ask themselves, “Have I made a good decision? Could I have handled this differently?” Colleagues have therefore long ago learned to shut their mouths and not offer their real opinions.
Prince Harry and his appalling behaviour is a wonderful example of someone who lacks self-awareness and has an inability to reflect on his words and actions. But that’s a story for another day!
Leaders who lack self-awareness will therefore resist the opportunity to unlearn and relearn. Like Donald Trump (another example of a monumental lack of self-awareness), the very thought of having to learn something new at this time of their careers gives them the screaming heebies. They just can’t bring themselves to admit to themselves that they are no longer the strong (according to the old definition) leader they think they are.
Don’t think I’m exaggerating. I’ve had personal experience of these leaders and I feel genuinely sorry for them as they are all highly skilled technical experts but, when it comes to self-awareness, they just don’t have it …
How strong are you when it comes to empathy?
Woah … Hold the phone … this is another term that gives old-school leaders the jitters. Some of them are smart enough to know that it’s important to talk the talk, so they throw the word around to create the impression that they get this “empathy thing”. But their actions betray them. They just can’t put themselves in the shoes of people who, by force of circumstances, live different lives to them. They think that their own lives are “normal” and other, less privileged people, well, their lives are just not normal, and tough luck to them.
It’s very difficult for them to learn to see things through the eyes of others, to feel what others are feeling, when they’ve never had to do that before. Again, Prince Harry is a great example.
In the interests of brevity, I have limited this to just two questions, but one could ask a lot more questions to test yourself. For example, how strong are you when it comes to collaboration, courage, love/care, vulnerability, criticism, failure, uncertainty, agility, patience, purpose and many more?
These are the new “strong”.
Do you notice something about these new requirements? They’re not skills. They’re qualities. And, unlike skills, qualities can’t be learned through traditional training methodologies. They have to be learned through a process of development. And that requires very different methodologies from training for skills.
Why, you may ask, is it so important to embrace these new leadership qualities? Look at what happens to your talent if you don’t. They quietly, very quietly so no-one notices, disengage and, at the first opportunity, leave. And then you’re in trouble. Because talent, good talent, is hard – and expensive – to replace …
In closing, another important question is: Can old dogs learn new tricks? The answer is a definite, “Yes … so long as they WANT to.”
So, there IS hope for old school leaders. If they WANT to change, to update themselves, to reboot their leadership competencies, to dodge irrelevance and eventual extinction, they have to put on their big boy and big girl pants, and introduce a development programme for themselves and their teams that will take them on a journey to become new generation leaders.
If they have the courage to do that, think about how strong they will be – judging by the new definition of “strong”. When they combine their technical skills and expertise with the new generation leadership qualities required for today and tomorrow, they and the teams they lead will be unstoppable!
If you’re looking for a bespoke Leadership Development Programme that is personalised according to each leader on the team, contact me. And if you are hesitant because some of your people are difficult, no problem. I’ve dealt with many difficult people over the years, ranging from my mother-in-law and egotistical executives to armed robbers with guns to my head (that’s no joke). Your old school “strong” leaders will not be a first time for me.
Alan Hosking is the Publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net and @HRFuturemag. He is an internationally recognised authority on leadership competencies for the future and teaches experienced business leaders as well as millennial managers how to lead with empathy, compassion, integrity, purpose and agility. In 2018, he was named by US-based web site Disruptordaily.com as one of the “Top 25 Future of Work Influencers to Follow on Twitter“. In 2020, he was named one of the “Top 200 Global Power Thought Leaders to watch in 2021” by peopleHum in India.
