The Invisible Leader
According to you What is leadership quality?
1) Influence driven by others
2) Doing right thing at the right time and in the right way
3) Invisible empowerment
This was last question asked in Board room contest which was conducted by The Hindu newspaper. There was 20 questions in the first round and it was online test and no time limit and it was a group contest. For almost all questions our team reached to a consensus in 10–12 min (average) but this alone we were arguing for more than 20 min, but still we were not able to reach to agreement. According to me it is “invisible empowerment”. And few points I’m going to speak about that only. My personal experience and the few leaders whom I admire most.
What is Invisible Leadership?
They also operate in this world. They will always try to create to an environment where people will and can make decisions. Progress is the primary concern for invisible leadership. They don’t say anything, they will simply get on with it.
Most of the leaders will face this situation at least once in their lifetime. The dilemma between the real leadership purpose (empowering others) and leadership ego (getting credits). To be frank I also have struggled with this kind of dilemma situation. It is the struggle between humility and ego. The great challenge to be an invisible leader is allowing others to flourish and parking our egos somewhere.
According to Tao Te ching verse 17:
“ The greatest leader are barely known by the people that he exists, Next best leader is the person whom they love most, and the next comes whom they fear and finally whom they despise and defy”
“Leader has to trust his people, when he doesn’t trust them nobody will trust him”
“The great leader will speak less or even we can say barely. He always work with self-interest and leaves no trace for the work done by him. But when work is done everyone will start saying we did it, all by ourselves “
Like many of you I also have done something in my life so far for which I’m proud of. Most part of my life I have been successful in keeping a check with my ego, which was tested few months ago. I was part of a team and people around us started praising another person for the great things that the person has done. I purposefully keeping this vague so as to not to mention the individual. This is just my reaction and how ego was tested and my aim is not to criticize anyone.
I was listening to them patiently and I found that they were praising wrong person. Primary responsible for doing the so called great thing was done by me and inside my head a voice(ego) started saying it was me..me.. not him/her. If i had said anything at that time would have made an embarrassing moment for that person as well as me. Thankfully I didn’t say anything and I chose to do that only and I was also nodding my head along with others. It looks easy and to say also but it was really a testing moment for me.
I think the most powerful leader are ones where others believe that they didn’t need a leader in the 1st place. Transferring the focus from yourself and managing authentic humility (kind of) which is not concerned about who is getting the credit and whose name is in the top of the list etc., is called the art of leadership.
One such example is Mr. Kamarajar the ex-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Recently I read about his life history and which is really must read for those who want to become or project themselves as leader. Only few things I want to quote here. He had an opportunity of becoming Prime Minister two times but he didn’t accept and referred other person and among the one is only Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Though he had an chance, he gave it to others. He is known for making many wise decisions which made the party as well as the country to flourish. During his term as Chief Minister he implemented many policies which was followed by the center now with a different name. He never took credit for anything he did. From the few leader whom I Know I never came across a person like him.
The tiring style of many leaders are garnished yet there are many unknown leaders who inspire and influence the individuals to achieve their strength or potential and he is one such.
According to me Leader should lead from behind, and achieve success because they are empowering others and giving support mechanism in place and mentoring them whenever required. Why? Because they believe in their workforce skill and giving respect to their contribution.
Recently read the summary of author David Zweig’s book “The Invisible: The power of anonymous work in an age of relentless self-promotion”. And oncomparing with that he said, quiet people are behind the success of public.
The invisible leader have learned few secrets.
1) Do not do Micromanaging, instead stay out and allow people to do their best.
2) Leave your ego and aggression and try to replace with self-confidence
3) We have to realize that we don’t have answer for everything all the time but we surrounded by the capable people who do.
4) We should not wait for opportunity for imposing our authority , we should keep quiet and listen.
5) We have criticize less and support more.
6) We have to stop taking credit instead of that start giving credit where the credit is due.
7) And Finally Have to be Invisible at the same time have to stay present.
Inconspicuous leadership does not mean that they are unseen or unrecognized, they are simply hidden so that the attempt made by others is becoming more visible and new leaders are emerged.
No one is master in this. Every time our ego will try to infuse me first mindset into any situation. As a leader we must fight against our natural habit and we should remain grounded by keeping in mind that great leaders are those whom people barely knows.
Invisible leader pull, they empower, they enable. People Follow
