Becoming a Leader — Part 1
Likely, this is not going to be what you think. The title that I chose for the series might seem to imply that whoever writes it is going to put down, yet again, the truisms about leadership that have been heavily outworn by excessive repetition in all kinds of tech, news, and business media. Ever heard how broken vinyl records or CDs get stuck with an audio fragment, playing it repetitively, much to our irritation? This is the feeling that I get as year after year I look at how the narratives that are aimed at inspiring people to become leaders… well, actually they do inspire. But, for some reason, there’s compelling evidence that organizations still lack leaders whom they need so acutely. Quoting from the linked article: “Capgemini found that organizations today feel less equipped with the right leadership skills, at 45% in 2012 compared to 35% in 2018”. The declining percentage shows, unequivocally, that we’ve somehow got it all wrong with the way we raise, nurture and educate <organizational> leaders (feel free to insert the words “tech” or “political” between the guillemets). I haven’t used the verb “train” here on purpose and opted for 3 (!) verbs instead: raise, nurture, and educate, if you’ve noticed; and this is for a reason. Besides, for now, I’m not going into the differences between “leadership” and “management” and the piles of trouble caused by a blur — created by those very mainstream narratives (or, shall I use a stronger word, such as “fads”, here?) — between the functions and the goals of those two.
It might seem like I’m getting overly bitter and critical — and who wouldn’t? — but this series represents my attempt at sorting leadership-related messes out, to some extent, at least. And, I’m more than a little bit shy about sharing my inspiration to do just that because… in all honesty, as much as I care about organizations as business entities, my primary area of focus has always been on people, humans, their happiness and empowerment, both individually and in groups. What I want for those professionals, seasoned or junior ones, who are so inspired by the narratives about leaders and visionaries... I just want to help them enjoy a less bumpy ride along their journeys. And, if after many years of work, and/or after many years of serving in some leadership capacity they still keep their unabashed faith in the lofty leadership ideals, must be, something will have been changed for the better.
… which is why the first thing that I suggest to do would be to ask yourself the following questions: What are the stories and narratives that make you passionate about being a leader? More importantly, who are the leader role models you look up to? What motivates them to be a leader, can you discern by which values are they guided? A tricky question: have you — as someone in software development — been lucky to personally work with a leader, or a team leader, or a manager who has been an inspiration to you? Or — the more likely scenario, as I’ve observed — do you base your passion for becoming a leader on an anti-role model of a leader/manager, as you say to yourself “this person is totally not like what I’m going to be”?
In part 2, I’m going to offer my perspective on the most likely answers to those questions and take the exploration from there.
This is going to be a multi-part series, so stay tuned :)
Related:
(tech) Leaders, Managers, and Tennis Umpires
