By Dr Ranjeet Mehta
Communication and teamwork are the aspects that get the most attention in leadership building, but the most effective leader capabilities are usually made in silence, in uncertainty, and in personal discomfort. These are the qualities that are seldom mentioned in class but are always evaluated in everyday life. Here is how life and soft skills can prepare students for future leadership roles.
Metacognition: Thinking about your thinking
Metacognition is the cognition (awareness) and deep understanding of one’s own mental processes, such as thinking, attitude, learning, etc. In practice, it inculcates the capability to enquire about the why and how of thinking and behaviour. For instance, “What made me come to that inference?” and “Are my errors following a certain trend?”
Such skills are important for being prepared for future obstacles, a crucial quality for potential leaders who will have to deal with unclear and strange problems such as a market disruption or an ethical dilemma. A leader who is good at metacognition will not just react but will take a moment to introspect and uncover their biases along with the analysis framework that is being used for the problem. The leader might as well enquire about the team by saying, “Are we only considering this as a marketing problem because we are familiar with that area when it is actually a product design issue?” By doing so, the team eliminates the possibility of making hasty and expensive decisions.Social and political skills without the manipulation
Another skill that is missed in most leadership conversations is being politically and socially adept. It’s the skill of perceiving the non-verbal interactions, hierarchies, and unspoken intentions and feelings in a situation with precision. It does not concern being a political player or manipulative but comprehending the situation in order to move through it in a less challenging and moral way.
A leader must be able to identify true influencers within the organisation, not just heads but old timers with whom the entire group feels confident, while also analysing the concealed anxieties and proposing a solution that takes into account these hidden worries and employs a dialect that corresponds to each.
This is to say that, in practice, the organisational chart of any company does not depict the area of real influence. A new leader who operates by assuming that the only authority will be formal and implementing the change boldly will not succeed. A leader with social radar identifies key cultural guardians, understands unspoken anxieties, and brings the people along. They know when to have a private coffee with a sceptical veteran engineer before rolling out a new tech strategy.
Equanimity: Take in stress and pressure and not pass it
Leadership is largely about state of mind, and equanimity is one quality that is non-negotiable for successful leadership. It’s a state of mind that not only involves controlling one’s emotions but also managing the whole situation effectively. It is the ability to see a situation objectively without any emotional bias.
Once the students have acquired the skill, they would be very good leaders that take a deep breath literally in the face of challenges. The internal mantra of such a person would not be “This is a disaster” but “Well, these are the new limitations; nothing is impossible.” Then, they take charge in a way that keeps the whole team together. Their calmness becomes the cooling effect that drains away the team’s panic, which, in turn, prevents them from spiralling downwards.
This is because the emotional condition of a leader is contagious. A product recall, a missed quarterly target, or a PR crisis, in all these cases the whole organisation will look to the leader for guidance. A leader who panics will cause the organisation to collapse. However, a leader who talks in a composed and focused manner, acknowledging the problem’s gravity and at the same time tackling it in a step-by-step manner, will give off a “unified calm” that will help the solving of the problem. It is a managed power that is often confused with false positivity.
Merging people by means of influence
The very first and foremost function of the leader is to unite people around one vision. The future leader will have the ability to pass the same way at the company-wide meeting and to get the employees’ support. At the same time, he/she might also convince the investors to invest in a new project and also harmonise the work done by a group of different departments to achieve a tough goal. They come to the conclusion that the influence is a greater power than the one of authority.
In a nutshell
The business environment is full of surprises and the unexpected. A sudden market change, a competitor’s breakthrough product or a global crisis can render even the most anticipated and well-thought-out plans useless. The soft skills mentioned above will teach a leader to literally be a rock amidst the storm, to take the bull by the horns, and to adapt their actions without any hesitation. They learn to be the ones who guide through times of uncertainty, not just times of stability.
Dr Ranjeet Mehta is the CEO & Secretary General, PHDCCI.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETEDUCATION does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETEDUCATION will not be responsible for any damage caused to any person or organisation directly or indirectly.
