The burdens of leadership

The struggle to meet expectations constantly is the biggest challenge in a leadership role

June 03, 2017 08:38 pm | Updated 08:38 pm IST

Despite being born female and in South Asia, I grew up free from the burden of any specific expectations. My brother and I were expected to study, and education was the route to self-reliance and financial independence. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was only when I was much older and in a leadership position myself that the full spectrum of expectations began to emerge.Attendant now were this constant critical or idolatry scrutiny. Every move was watched, every action or word magnified. Motives could be attributed and assigned without undue concern or knowhow.

A lot of scrutiny

When I look back at my own years of ‘leader-watching’, I remember the bouts of scrutiny I in turn directed on leaders in my work environment. Dress, walk and demeanor, all warranted attention. As did the ripple effect of these on the other members of the top management.

In a burst of confidence engendered perhaps by my being the only female in his senior team, one of them told me, “I have to dress conservative; if I wear jeans, these guys will wear shorts and tracks!”

Years later, I experienced this from the other side. The leader, I learnt, is expected to be impeccably turned out, well-spoken and capable of handling any situation with aplomb. Anything less is unacceptable and would be relentlessly analysed, criticized, even condemned. The pressure this creates is naturally intense, and the feeling of being hemmed in from all directions is a real one.

Trigger for struggles

Change is more often than not the trigger for struggles in the leadership arena. Leaders usher in organisational change, which creates a natural tension as the status quo fights back. With various factors in the mix, an imbalance is created that impacts leaders, managers and followers in multiple and varying ways.Ironically, the leader gets the roughest edge as he is seemingly the most ‘powerful’ one.

Are such situations unusual in leadership? Are there gender variations on the theme: do male and female leaders face differing expectations and do they handle them in different ways?

Actually, these occur more often than one would think and leadership is not as natural or glamorous as it looks. While there is some interesting literature that documents these experiences often leaders themselves don’t talk about this for fear of looking weak or vulnerable. An offshoot perhaps of the fact that till recently leadership positions were predominantly male preserves.

So how does all this pan out for women in leadership positions? As in many other situations and spheres, here too women seem to face tougher challenges.

For example, they tend to set higher expectations for themselves and those around them, which can trigger greater struggles. This is often, sadly, juxtaposed with the overwhelming expectation of their failure by those around them. That then becomes the subtext, another expectation that also has to be overcome.

How then does a leader handle the burden and the stress that leadership invariably entails? What are the dos and don’ts? Does one give up or give in?

More fundamentally, are leaders allowed to be human or themselves? Or must they respond to their employees' perception of what a leader should be? Can these perceptions change over time? Do leaders change in response to perceptions about them? And the ultimate question of all: is it worth it?

Questions, answers

There comes a time in leadership when you need to ask yourself these questions and then question the answers. There are, sadly, no clear answers, much less universal ones. Each leader has to find the path best for her and see the struggle, however hard, as part of the process of growth.

Layers and meanings

In a work of art, each layer and texture, colour and perspective creates an individualistic vision, which can mean different things to different viewers and even to its creator at different points of time.The audience does not usually see the struggle or uncertainty of the creative process, only its outcome. And sometimes, as in the case of icons, the passage of time reveals the glow within.

In the leadership journey, however, the creative process itself is subject to intense scrutiny, and not just by experts. According to the gurus, building resilience is important to survive, and courage and self-worth are what it takes to make the journey and complete the picture, revealing the vision.

The author is the Managing Director of an international publishing house in India. The views are personal. Email: leadstruggles@gmail.com

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