Act as a role model – Be transparent

Debjani Roy, Chief People Officer, SRL shares her leadership philosophy with Express Healthcare

What’s your leadership philosophy?

My personal leadership philosophy is that of a transformational leader who often follows a moderated laissez-faire leadership philosophy. They spend enormous energy behind building a strong team first, delegate with complete trust, and lend substantial autonomy to the team members while at the same time keeping an eye out on not allowing procrastinations, ambiguities, and incompetent deliveries to happen.Transformational leaders expect everyone on the team to give more than 100 per cent to meet a goal and are generally looking to make big changes.The other leadership philosophy that I find extremely relevant and useful is that of the situational leader, who uses a leadership philosophy that changes with the current condition in an organisation. When an authoritarian leadership style is needed, they fulfil that role. When a more laissez-faire approach works, that is the leadership style they use. At every stage therefore, they gauge the situation that an organisation is in, assess risks and opportunities therein and adopt a style that is best suited to achieve the objectives.

I strongly believe that a combination of both the styles therefore makes one a very strong and adaptive leader.

With respect to the healthcare sector especially I see organisations as poised for great changes today. A dynamic market place, consistently emerging competition, the shrinking sources of talent, rising expectations in terms of delivery, all call for evolved and pragmatic responses/ solutions from leaders who would empower and yet lead initiatives themselves and taking their respective organistions to the next level. Situational leadership therefore seems most suited to the same.

What are the keys to maximising the leadership skills within an organisation?

The most effective keys to create a nurturing ground for leadership skills within the organisation and maximising on the same are:

• Act as a role model – Be transparent about your own need to learn.
• Reinforce the value of learning by going  beyond the baseline conversation about goals. Ask about what each one wants to accomplish and what they feel their gaps are.  When someone completes an assignment, celebrate both the outcome and the learning, especially if the assignment wasn’t completed as smoothly as everyone would’ve liked.
• Build sustainable processes to support development- Managers should be expected to coach and develop their people. At a minimum, everyone knows what areas they need to improve, and for those with particularly high potential, career tracks are developed that give them a sense of where they can go inside the organisation.
• Reinforce shared values- Employees should be able to link their everyday tasks and responsibilities to the values in the organisation. People need to understand why what they do is important.
• Clarifying goals at every stage – Removing ambiguities in the minds of employees about what needs to be achieved. That way, goals are pursued without any dilution.

What are the common mistakes that a leader should avoid?

The common mistakes that leaders should definitely avoid are:

• Failing to delegate effectively – the key to leadership success is to learn to effectively delegate ,both the responsibility for completing assignments and the authority required to get things done.
• Not setting goals – Not only do goals give employees direction and purpose, but they ensure that your employees are working towards the overall goals of the organisation.
• Looking for quick fixes – No matter how difficult the problem is, there is always a quick solution. The trouble is that in our zeal to fix things quickly and move on to the next fire to be fought, we often overlook the lasting solution that may take longer to develop.
• Communicating poorly – It can be difficult for busy bosses to keep employees up to date on the latest developments. And with the speed that information now travels, employees may learn what’s going on in the organisation before the boss does.  Regardless, make every effort to get employees the information they need to do their jobs quickly and efficiently.
• Failing to learn – Every employee, no matter how talented or meticulous, makes mistakes.  What separates good employees from not-so-good employees is their ability to learn from those mistakes. The best leaders create an environment in which employees aren’t afraid to take prudent risks, even if it means occasional failure, because that’s how employees learn.
• Resisting change – If you think you can keep things from changing in your business, you are mistaken. Instead of resisting change, or reacting to it after the fact, anticipate the changes that are coming and make plans to address them before they arrive.
• Missing chances to make work fun – Without a doubt, being a boss is serious business. Despite the gravity of these responsibilities, the best leaders make their organisations fun places to be. Your people spend about one-third of their lives at work.  Make it a pleasant place for them.
• Failure to praise & rewards – There are many things that leaders can do to recognise employees that cost little or no money, are easy to implement, and take only a few minutes to accomplish.  When you take the time to recognise employees’ achievements, the result is improved morale, performance, and loyalty.
• Being too ‘hand off’ – Many leaders want to avoid micromanagement. But going to the opposite extreme (with a hand-offs management style) isn’t a good idea either – you need to get the balance right.
• Not providing feedback in a timely manner – failing to provide feedback is the most common mistake that leaders make. When you don’t provide prompt feedback to your people, you’re depriving them of the opportunity to improve their performance.

EH News Bureau