Hack:
"Equip to energize and energize to equip" with a Triune Leadership Quotient (TLQ) mindset
With most pyramidal organization structures, these days, happen to demand too much of the too few, from the top, and not much of everyone else in the ranks, the general consensus, among most management practitioners is that, most of these organizations are not at all equipped (enough), to energize their rank and file leaders effectively, leave alone, nurturing them with the innovation instincts of Steve Jobs (IQ), the political skills of Lee Kuan Yew(CQ), and the emotional intelligence of Desmond Tutu(EQ), as eloquently echoed by Gary Hamel and Polly LaBarre. Rightfully so, we have attempted an integrated triune leadership quotient (TLQ) approach, with a mantra, "equip to energize and energize to equip", that is syndicated at the confluence of three distinct leadership quotients(EQ+CQ+IQ), by augmenting our firm's Purpose Driven Leadership within our larger Virtual Ocean Strategy(VOS) umbrella of frameworks.
- An ENERGETIC emotional quotient, that sources leaders, to exhibit their human qualities(confidence, commitment, courage, caliber(vision), call to action(impact), empathy, humility and all the "ities" type of human traits, one can come up with)=> Energetic leadership manifesting as an emotional intelligence quotient(EQ).
- A SPACIOUS cultural quotient, that propels leaders, to wear maximum number of hats within an organization (seer, contrarian, architect, mentors, connectors, bushwhackers, guardian, citizens and any other "hats" one can come up with)=> Energy/Space= Forceful leadership manifesting as a cultural intelligence quotient(CQ)
- A TIMELY intellectual quotient, that helps leaders, to land on wise decisions, by navigating through all permutation and combination of chances quickly (go getter, eagle, cheetah and all other types of speedy/wise traits, one can come up with ) => Energy/Time = Powerful leadership manifesting as an intellectual quotient (IQ)
In other words, the need of the hour, is an energetic leadership approach, that trains leaders, not only, in the art of leadership, but also, in the science of predicting their leadership ENERGIES (i.e. EQ insights) in TIME dimension as IQ and then shifting them in SPACE dimension as CQ, in an integrated manner, with an ultimate goal of transforming everyday leaders into "Jobs-Yew-Tutu" style, TLQ leaders.
As it turns out, bulk of the challenge, hindering organizations to make our vision of “equip to energize and energize to equip”, a reality, happens to stem from the same set of challenges posed by Gary Hamel. In addition, we have identified three more challenges, from the learning’s from our consulting engagements, thus making it five, as listed below -
- First, we have to redistribute power in a way that gives many more individuals the opportunity to lead.
- Second, we have to equip and energize individuals to lead even when they lack formal authority.
- Third, we need an "impact driven, situation based, filter-in, future potential based, match making " type leadership approach, as opposed to the predominant pyramidal approach of "KPI driven, "one size fit all" type template based, filter-out, past performance (only) based ranking mindset" to help develop the so called "Jobs-Yew-Tutu" style triune leaders.
- Fourth, we need an approach that views leadership as both an art and science (with varying weight factors, depending upon situation).
- Fifth, we need an integrated/automated/transparent TLQ structure (linked to big data driven real time Corporate Performance System) that serves as a "sounding board type mentor", especially for young leaders, when they are challenged with tough decisions.
In other words, if we are serious about making our mantra of "equip to energize and energize to equip" a reality, it is time to develop an “integrated triune leadership quotient(TLQ), as outlined in detail, in the solution section.
Sure enough, we have attempted an integrated triune leadership quotient (TLQ) approach, with a mantra - "equip to energize and energize to equip", that is syndicated at the confluence of three distinct leadership quotients(EQ+CQ+IQ) , by augmenting our firm's Purpose Driven Leadership within our larger VOS umbrella of frameworks.
- An ENERGETIC emotional quotient, that sources leaders, to exhibit their human qualities(confidence, commitment, courage, caliber(vision), call to action(impact), empathy, humility and all the "ities" type of human traits, one can come up with)=> Energetic leadership manifesting as an emotional intelligence quotient(EQ).
- A SPACIOUS cultural quotient, that propels leaders, to wear maximum number of hats within an organization (seer, contrarian, architect, mentors, connectors, bushwhackers, guardian, citizens and any other "hats" one can come up with)=> Energy/Space= Forceful leadership style manifesting with cultural intelligence quotient(CQ)
- A TIMELY intellectual quotient, that helps leaders, to land on wise decisions, by navigating through all permutation and combination of chances quickly (go getter, eagle, cheetah and all other types of speedy/wise traits, one can come up with ) => Energy/Time = Powerful leadership style manifesting as a intellectual quotient (IQ)
In other words, the need of the hour, is an energetic leadership approach, that trains leaders, not only, in the art of leadership, but also, in the science of predicting their leadership ENERGIES (i.e. EQ insights) in TIME dimension as IQ and then shifting them in SPACE dimension as CQ, in an integrated manner, with an ultimate goal of transforming everyday leaders into "Jobs-Yew-Tutu" style, TLQ leaders.
Who do we mean?
For a moment, let us imagine that the business organization as an event tree, with a series of "chance event nodes ", with multiple levels (i.e. level 0,1,2,3 etc), with each level, having 1 to many chance nodes as outlined in the picture below. Within this tree, leadership is all about, choosing the best path, out of the various permutations and combinations of possible paths, that are available before us, by applying these TLQ traits. In other words, leadership is all about transforming chances into choices, every step of our way, as we navigate through these chance nodes, within each level. While that navigation process, in and itself is a difficult one, what makes it all the more complex is, that businesses, these days, end up throwing , lot more chance stone(s) at us, simultaneously (and continuously), as they say that the "tree that bears the most fruits, gets most stones thrown at as well".
Here is where, it is important for leaders, to wear this TLQ lens, to have the best visibility of all the chances(up and down the tree), as the chances in some levels, in general, will not be visible to us, when we look at it with our normal lenses. In other words, equipping ourselves, with this TLQ lens, not only, will help us to have the best visibility of all the chances (up and down the event tree), but also, will help us to transform those chances into choices quickly, which is what makes, this skill of leading with TLQ, the single most important, sought after signature trait of a leader.
Simply put, the winning path, is not determined by, what happens to us as leaders (i.e. chances),but by how, we react to it(i.e. choices). In other words, when businesses throw chance stones at us, what matters most is, what we do with it? We have a choice to transform them into tombstones, step-stones, wall-stones, bridge-stones or a capstones - and choice is clearly ours!
This is perhaps one of the key reasons, Jim Collins had equated his 10x leadership, to that of mountaineering, as mountaineering is one of the few tedious sports, that comes with its own set of expected and unexpected chance stones, that ultimately will end up testing our ambidextrous energy management skills. In other words, both life and businesses alike, will not only, throw chance stones at us, but also, on occasions, will end up making us to fall flat on our harness . Why? On those occasions, we as leaders, sometimes, knowingly or unknowingly, fail to anticipate the so called chance stones, especially when they are being thrown at us, from the distance. Part of the reason for that failure is that, some of those chances, at times, do come with its own set of dilemmas, and rightfully so, McKinsey's Colin Price had equated the job of a leader, to that of a circus performer(juggling multiple plates in the air) in one of his articles. In other words, we as leaders, not only, must learn to juggle these plates simultaneously (or chance stone type dilemmas in TLQ parley), but also, learn to transform them into choices quickly, much before they start hitting us. That is precisely the reason, we have augmented our TLQ leadership framework, with 18 macro dilemmas (6 for EQ+ 6 for CQ + 6 for IQ and many more micro dilemmas), to help leaders, to juggle them all simultaneously, in an integrated manner, using nature's top three principles, in three steps. Simply put,
- As a first step, the purpose seed (Vision, Mission, BHAG, Values and Codes) gets manifested as three top management disciplines of 21st century i.e. Leadership, strategy and innovation, using nature’s energy management principle.
- Then these three transformed disciplines, go through a 3S (seed-season-sequel) journey, before resulting in as a Triune Shared Value (shareholder + societal + motivational) using nature’s seedal chain principle.
- Last, but not the least, this 3S journey, ends up creating 18 macro dilemmas(6 for leadership, 6 for strategy and 6 for Innovation) and many more micro dilemmas(depending upon problem/industry domain), and gets resolved, by nature’s principle of balancing opposites, as outlined in the following EQ view picture, with its set of 6 macro dilemmas.
TLQ event tree comes to life with our big data driven, real time Corporate Performance Management System (CPM)
That being said, we hear someone saying that, it all sounds great in theory - how can this TLQ help the so called everyday leaders, in their day to day decision making process?
That is precisely our point as well, and rightfully so, we are currently in the process of prototyping aTLQ event tree system, with all the chances and choices (decisions), that has ever been made (or attempted) within an organization, with a causal/correlation linkage to the big data driven BSC style, real time Corporate performance Management (CPM) system. At a high level, we foresee that each of the nodes within this TLQ tree, to have a minimum of 5 elements, as outlined below.
- Chance
- The corresponding choice
- How the chance was transformed into a choice (e.g. So and so leader, transformed "XYZ" chance into "ABC" choice by manifesting the EQ elements of (confidence, courage etc with a percentage weight factor among them) and CQ elements of (seer, contrarian, architect, mentors, connectors, bushwhackers, guardian, citizens etc with weight factor among them) along with the IQ elements of (gut feel, intuition, data driven, causal, correlation with a percentage weight factor among them).
- Choice outcome in terms of near term impact
- Choice outcome in terms of long term impact
Once such transparent TLQ is implemented for all the decisions (both big and small) ever made within an organization, it will help anyone within the organization, not only, to check and validate their leadership behaviors and decision(s) against a similar chance node within this TLQ tree, but also, double-check, how similar sounding decisions, were handled by their expert leader(s) before. Not only that, once such TLQ structure is implemented on top of a big data driven real time CPM system, it will also help leaders to perform various "what if scenario" analysis, on their impending decisions, in an integrated manner as well.
Conclusion
While there are many ways one can skin the cat, we have developed an unique TLQ approach, with a mantra of "equip to energize and energize to equip", that is syndicated at the confluence of three distinct leadership quotients(EQ+CQ+IQ), by augmenting our firm's Purpose Driven Leadership framework, within our larger VOS umbrella of frameworks. Granted, our end goal is to identify and nurture the so called "Jobs-Yew-Tutu" style TLQ leaders, however, let us also not forget the fact that implementing TLQ structures, across all the ranks of an organization is, what brings out the maximum value, especially, when it comes to training young leaders to master this TLQ mindset, very early in their careers. The implication of, not taking such a holistic approach is that,organizations, will end up producing leaders, either too artistic (intuitive decision makers) or too analytical (data driven), as opposed to producing them with a "doing both" mindset. This is where, our TLQ approach, with its artistic flavor, that is further augmented with our scientific rigor, definitely has an edge!
- Once we develop a pragmatic leadership structure like TLQ, it not only, will equip and energize leaders across all ranks, but also, will help them to make a mindset shift slowly i.e. from an "impact driven, situation based, filter-in, future potential based, matching" decisions, as opposed to the predominant decision making approach of "KPI driven, template based, filter-out, past performance (only) based ranking" mindset.
- In addition, it will also help leaders ,not only, to identify and balance various dilemma elements in EQ, CQ and IQ dimensions simultaneously (using the principle of balancing opposites), but also, will help them to create the so called, composite leadership traits, with various weight factors. For example, as Jack Welch often says, the single most leadership characteristic of a leader is, exhibiting confidence and humility simultaneously - and he calls it as maturity. This is where, our TLQ system will help leaders, to develop new composite leadership traits, based on how a leader exhibits the so called, opposing traits, simultaneously, with varying weight factors(50:50, 60:60 or 70:30 etc).
- When implemented on top of a big data driven real time CPM system, it will also help us to visualize all the impending implications from the top three management disciplines of 21st century, in an Integrated manner, as outlined in our Virtual Ocean Umbrella framework (http://www.slideshare.net/CharlesPrabakar/virtual-ocean-strategy-the-way-to-reset-strategies-with-a-purpose-driven-industry-structure-is-irrelevant-mindset)
- When implemented, it will also help leaders to make intuitive decisions by "connecting the dots with a serendipity mindset". In other words, if I may put it in a theological parley, TLQ is all about "transforming chances into choices", with a serendipitous mindset(which by the way, happens to be the foundation of our firm's VOS framework as well).
- Last, but not the least, it will slowly shift leadership, from its art form into science form, with a noble goal of helping the pyramidal organizational structures, not to demand too much of too few on the top, rather try to spread it out by democratizing leadership across all ranks, which happens to be the crux of this MIX challenge. That being said, let me also make one more point clear - while transforming leadership from its art form into a science form, as part of this democratization process, is a step in the right direction, in reality, let us not forget the fact that leadership, will always be both an art and science (while the weight factor emphasis might vary from situation to situation), which is where, a structure like TLQ, is extremely valuable for young leaders, as they get the luxury of learning from the wisdom of their senior leaders at their finger tips.
- Taking an integrated TLQ approach, does necessitate the need to hire leaders, with the aptitude for all the three TLQ components, which in and itself will make the hiring and training processes all the more complex and expensive.
- Democratizing decision making , will invariably end up sending culture shock waves, across the so called traditional pyramid organization structures, and so, organizations must be well prepared, to absorb those shock waves (in terms of checks and balances).
- “Making everyday leaders” means, organizations must be willing to train all of their leaders to be collaboration savvy, not only, inside their four walls, but also, across all of their partner company walls (both related and unrelated industry verticals) - thus making the organizations to be vulnerable for the risk of, not making the timely decisions. In other words, we have to be careful, not make this TLQ structure, as an excuse for the "analysis/paralysis type of decision making with a consensus culture", thus slowing the overall decision making process, which ultimately negates original purpose of implementing TLQ, in the first place.
- While developing triune leaders like "Jobs, Yew, Tutu", sounds great to hear, in reality, identifying and nurturing such leaders, will take time, and so, organizations must be patient and not be disappointed too soon, based on the early results.
- Last but not the least, while the mantra of "equip to energize and energize to equip", sounds rhyming to hear, in reality, it means that, we need to be implementing TLQ as a close loop feedback system, potentially on top of a big data driven, real time CPM system, to get its full benefits, which makes it all the more complex.
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