Unlocking potentials versus filling seats

Let me start this short presentation with my definition of an AGILE LEADER. He is committed to collective results and therefore, a master of adaptability who is endowed with the faculty of quick and smart moves in managing team dynamics with the mind of achieving organisation’s shared vision, strategies and goals.

He forges a cohesive team with trust, honesty and accountability. With this style of leadership, the organisation thrives in the midst of uncertainty. He inspires, empowers and motivates his team members. With his cohesive leadership, he unleashes the unique strengths and potential of team members. He fosters organisational health. The workplace engages in unfettered, collaboration and there is total ownership of achievements.

This leader builds teams and not just fills seats. His style is not “I can do it alone” to ensure profitability and growth, he emplaces intellectual alignment across board.

I have been reiterating in the column that smart leaders must achieve superior performance, work satisfaction, smart coordination, enhanced employee commitment and collaboration, resilience, “marriage” of technology with human skills as well as work satisfaction.

To achieve the best as a smart business leader, you must preserve and leverage the single-most valuable asset: HUMANS. What is trending now in transformation of business organisations is “HUMANS ARE IN CHARGE”. Artificial Intelligence (AI) no matter its transformative impact, will only complement and not replace human capability.

Do you want to foster the dynamism of smart strategies and innovation? You must harness knowledge capital of humans, employees. Knowledge capital is a valuable economic asset, a decisive tool for competitive advantage and an essential productivity determining factor.

Let us dig deeper into how we can harness the knowledge capital of humans for organizational excellence.

Experts say that there are two parts to the human capital. The EXPLICIT (70%) and the TACIT (30%). The explicit is the expressed, manifest and overt part. The evident part of the human that is distinctly perceived. The TACIT is the potential that is, not expressed. The unrealized ability, efficacious and generates massive influence. The “possibility” that the leader must bring out to become “actuality.”

The leader must fully bring out these knowledge domains and align the knowledge capital with organizational strategies and goals. We need to illuminate and explicate this capital. It must be brought out and utilized, shared and passed on through the platforms of coaching, training and mentoring. Progress as we all know, is not predictable or inevitable but, definitely, possible.

Employees must be put in their right roles in order to achieve their best. They will perform when they care about their work and are committed. Their strengths and energies must be managed to align with organizational goals and purpose.

As a learning curve, we have been told that emphasis should be on great products and services, not just the financials. To achieve great responses to solving customers’ problems, the leader must adopt the analytical approach. You must be analytical and focused on problem solving and learning. You must develop and satisfactorily enhance human capability and commitment in order to deliver revolutionary products and services. The new approach is: design, build, create and improve.

Human engineering or human adaptability will enable leaders adopt the fundamental responsibilities that define engineers. That is, cultivate innovation, unleash creative potentials, product and services. This new process must find and achieve solutions to customers’ needs. The run-down will be like this: solve problems. Do not be afraid of challenges. Achieve creative solutions. Do not be fixated on status quo or existing methods and solutions. Analyse customers’ problems and examine them for multiple perspectives. Also, find the causes of the problems or challenges and deliver the expected solutions.

Leaders are advised to come down from the Hedonic Treadmill. “Just dishing out rewards” cannot be sustainable. Huge perks and fat salaries will not deliver smart and great leaders. Core workplace practices must be re-examined and changed to enable leaders produce beneficial outcomes and not process.

Leaders must drive value with the outcome-based coordination process. We can achieve differentiation with outcome-based planning. That is, the story behind the value. For instance, an insurance organisation must sell “peace of mind”. This is, do more than sell products and not just products that deliver certainty and confidence.

Telling the “story”, the team efforts that deliver the meaningful and highly beneficial values, will surely drive and achieve loyalty of customers.

Outcome solutions to customers’ problems will be compelling, authentic and obviously deliver the “feel good” satisfaction.

An outcome-based strategy mindset will be the result of improved skills and capabilities of the human capital. Also, new inspiration, new language, new relationships, new coaching, new tools and new reinforcements.

Let me conclude by pointing out that these efforts to unleash unique potentials and energies of employees are referred to as HUMAN FACTOR ENGINEERING or working smarter by taking adequate care of The “FIT” and the “FITTING”. The leader optimizes outcomes by improving interaction. That is, co-efficient interaction, cognitive psychology or cognitive reaction time, teamwork and team leadership, responsible and reasonable response time, improved line of “sight” and communication, fully meeting expectations and achieving great performance.

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