Five pressing questions you have about leadership today
Covid-19 has most certainly changed the way leaders lead. Many topics such as self-discovery and personal development have arisen as leaders consider their leadership styles in retrospect.
In our recent Leadership Masterclass, some of these topics and issues relating to the skill sets of leadership were discussed. Our very own leaders from Halogen Foundation and guests from The Birthday Collective, Ivy Tse, Martin Tan, Aaron Maniam and Natalya Twohill, had an open discussion with students and educators during a virtual lounge session.
Here are some of the perspectives that were shared on prominent issues faced by leaders today:
- How can a leader be firm without being overbearing?
As a leader, the first step is to always set the foundation of how we wish to engage our team. It is important for the team to come together and understand the ‘why’ of any project before embarking on it. Identifying intentions and communicating these intentions to our teammates helps to make the project more meaningful for everyone.
If we are genuine about why we are doing certain things and if we have a relationship with people, then we would not come off as being overbearing.
It may seem hard to strike a balance between the two, but essentially, the more firm we want to be, the more vulnerable we need to be.
Martin Tan, co-founder of Halogen Foundation and CEO of the Majurity Trust, shared a personal story that is relatable to many parents today.
Martin’s daughters used to think that he was an overbearing parent. In response, he would ask them this question: Do you at any point in time think your father will actually wish bad things upon you and not want you to enjoy life?
Parents surely want the best for their children. However, the children (or youths, in this case) also need to understand that sometimes when they do not get their wishes granted, there are good reasons behind it.
Being firm also does not necessarily mean we are overbearing. It is not a binary between being firm or soft. There is a range and varying degrees of intensity. The point of leadership is to be able to identify the nuances in between and have the courage to make mistakes and learn from them.
2. How can leaders lead others without the fear of being judged?
There is a difference between being self-aware and self-conscious. Finding the balance between the two is important.
People do not actually have time to watch our every single move, so we cannot let that self-consciousness paralyse us. We are the most powerful person when it comes to limiting ourselves. We will feel lighter if we release some of the thoughts and feelings holding us back.
Also, oftentimes, our perception of people constantly judging us can be self-inflicted. If we know our primary motivation for doing certain things a certain way, then the “judgement” from others can be reframed into constructive feedback. Collecting feedback is important for leaders to understand how people feel about our decisions, and as leaders we all need to learn to take our ego out of the picture.
We need to recognise that the ability for us to achieve our mission is more important than how we look while getting there.
3. How can you be a leader without being given a formal role?
People often wait for official positions or titles before they exercise leadership. In reality, we are given the position after we have exercised leadership. Don’t wait for the position. Leadership is influence, and influence is not about whether you have position.
As long as you have positive influence, you can exercise leadership. Leadership is about what you do. It boils down to who you are and what you believe in.
Aaron Maniam, a board director of Halogen Foundation Singapore, shared a personal story that is close to his heart. His best leadership practice is with his family. It is a family tradition to organise ‘Christmas in June’ and he mentioned that it is fun as it encompasses all elements of leadership. The event is not formal in any way as there are no positions such as “Head of Organising Committee” and so on. But everyone still comes together to chip in to make the event happen because everyone knows why it is important. This is just one example of how leadership can be exercised in any setting — formal or informal.
4. What kind of leaders do we need for Singapore and how can we nurture such leaders?
We need leaders who are influential, charismatic and able to move the masses. Leaders need to be open about their failures and be willing to be vulnerable.
Things are changing fast. The challenges we face these days are getting more nuanced, more ambiguous, and it is not easy to grow up in this day and age. We need leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset. We need leaders who are adaptable and mentally strong to overcome obstacles. However, while we focus on leaders having agility, we cannot lose sight that we want leaders who have strong values.
It is also important to find the strength in the informal and not just the formal. When organised structures do not have all the answers, we need to rely on the informal. Young people today are coming up with the most innovative solutions and are organising themselves in an informal manner to solve socio-economic issues. We need leaders who can hone informal leadership, who have the ability to solve complex problems given any situation.
In a VUCA (Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous) World, we need VUCA (Vision Understanding Clarity Agility) Leaders.
5. Does being a leader mean being lonely? What do you do to deal with negative emotions?
We are, collectively speaking, not as good at managing negative emotions. But it is not wrong to feel negative emotions. It is perfectly okay to feel lonely. Why do we feel this way? Because we need to make difficult decisions. This is where we find other people who have been in the same situation as us before.
There is always the worry that people are going to judge us if we share our struggles, and that does not allow us to emerge from the loneliness. However, it is important to reach out to other leaders, share our challenges candidly, and learn from them. It is okay to feel lonely, but we must not allow ourselves to wallow and sink in self-pity.
Also, being given a huge responsibility at a young age can get overwhelming. There will be times when we feel that we have to make decisions for ourselves and others. However, leadership is a choice. Making a choice to be a leader is a lonely one. It is hard, no one else will make that decision for us. It is okay to take a step back and seek out people that can help, guide and support us.
At the end of the day, leadership is a muscle. If we do not continuously exercise our muscles, they will eventually become weaker. However, we also cannot overwork our muscles — they do require rest time for recovery.
Similarly for leadership, there are times when we need to take a step back and give ourselves a break. Remember that we have friends who are cheering us on because what we are doing is worth celebrating!
#YouthDevelopment #Leadership #LeadershipinRecovery #PersonalGrowth #Youth
