Improve your astuteness as a leader
AS we have just stepped into 2021, it is important for leaders to take a deliberate decision to make it the year in which you improve your astuteness as a leader. In order to do this, there are some tendencies — some whimsical, others naïve and Pollyana-like — you will need to do away with as they do not serve you, but only work to weaken you. Remember you need to be a force to reckon with. Below are some of the tendencies you will need to shed off.
Vulnerability to others’ opinions: You need to stand firm in your own convictions. Develop your own ideas. Do not just float along or be swayed by the last person you talk to on a matter. Determine for yourself, drawing from your own experience and wisdom, what it is that needs doing, how, when, why, and stop relying on the opinions of others. If you must get advice seek it from some identified advisers or experts, but whatever you do, avoid being at the mercy of the opinions of every Tom, Dick and Harry, or Anne, Jill and Mary.
Showing all your cards or wearing your convictions on your sleeve: Doing this makes you vulnerable to unscrupulous colleagues. Keep a certain amount of guessing among your team. People should not always see you coming. It pre-empts and can disarm you needlessly. Keep a bit of yourself or your plans to yourself, as much as possible actually.
Overly clinging to convictions: Having some convictions is fine, but avoid being rigid or inflexible, where flexibility is needed. You run the risk of being outmanoeuvred by others who may be better able to adjust and suit the context at hand if you stay rigid or refuse to act or think as per merit or peculiarities of a given situation.
Accepting others’ motives at face value: the word for this is naivety. While innocence has its merits in that you are playful and optimistic, naivety is simply failing to grasp what is going on around you, which is childish rather than the child-like virtue of innocence.
Making gross assumptions about what others are thinking: paranoia and wild attributions of motive are common among nonsavvy people because they are so unsure about what others are up to. Assess a situation first before making gross assumptions.
Assuming guaranteed reciprocity: the best is not always for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
Deal with the imperfect world you are in and be astute when doing favours. Some people may not return the favours, expect that and avoid disappointments; others may not even accept or appreciate friendly overtures, or kind gestures. Know this.
Believing others ought to act in certain ways: while it is fine to have your own moral code, expecting everyone else to live up to it is childish and egotistical. Never mind “ought”, you have to live in the real world of what actually happens. Often times, people do not act in ways we expect.
Becoming locked into a single course of action: feeling at sea, the non-savvy person withdraws into inflexible positions on points of principle.
This may lead to some winning of battles, but nearly always ends with a lost war. Prone to a faith in rationality, you risk excessive idealism about what can be achieved by being right.
Being unreasonable in negotiations: Try to see the other person/persons’ point of view. While at it, avoid becoming overly emotional. Some emotion is good, but avoid an outpouring of it so much that it can cloud judgment or logic.
Expecting everything to go well always: This is increasingly rare in a shifting and unstable global economy. You must not expect everything to go smoothly all the time. There will always be hitches, glitches and whatnot. The good, the bad and the ugly are all part of existence.
(This article was informed in part by content from Oliver James, best-selling author of the book “Office Politics”.)
Maggie Mzumara is a leadership, communication and media strategist as well as corporate trainer, who offers group trainings as well as one on one coaching in various areas of expertise. She advocates women leadership and is founder of Success in Stilettos (SiS) Seminar Series, a leadership development platform for women. Contact her on maimzumara@yahoo.com or follow on Twitter @magsmzumara