Leadership should not be about a super hero, but an enabler

The leader being at the top of the hierarchy is a very traditional view of where one should be. Several great leaders in the past led from the top, and made key decisions on behalf of everyone.

Julius Caesar was described as a commander and genius. He delegated roles and responsibilities. Being a genius, he seemed to have all the answers to problems.

Joan of Arc was considered a heroine of France, and Alexander the Great was known as the man who conquered the world. Stories like these tend to focus on the leader as the lone ranger who made these amazing things happen.

There is no denying that these leaders were great. However, this glorification has created a certain mindset of how leaders should be, which does not always work in today’s increasingly demanding business environment.

We still tend to view the leader as the person at the top of the hierarchy: The person that everything starts and stops with. Several businesses treat their leaders as some sort of demigods. Decisions rely on him or her, and their yay or nay is the final word (God forbid they wake up in a bad mood!).

This can be especially true of start-up or family-run businesses. Often, this one person has started the business from scratch, and therefore treats it as their baby, literally nurturing it, teaching and disciplining it. This is understandable when you have created something from your blood, sweat and tears.

However, this “super hero approach” to leadership is crippling for any business. It stifles creativity, gets in the way of accountability, and slows down decision-making and puts off camaraderie among teams.

It also puts a lot of pressure on the leader to perform and feel like they need to know it all. This concept does not allow for the leader to be vulnerable and in need of support.

Instead of viewing the leader at the top of the pyramid, if we shifted our perspective, and placed him at the bottom of the pyramid, we would encourage him to serve as the enabler. This may seem counter-intuitive, however, in a world of rapid change, businesses cannot rely on the one super hero or super heroine.

The leader as an enabler helps others think for themselves, and believes in discussion and collaboration. This would drive the leader to spend less time being focused on individual success, and rewards, and be more focused on viewing the organisation as a community with collective goals and input.

All traditional cultures are historically communal cultures. Interestingly, a fundamental part of the African history and culture is the Unbuntu philosophy, which focuses more on the community and less on the drive towards individualistic wealth.

In the words of Mbiti (1969) ‘‘I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore I am.”

Seeing the interdependence between the different relationships can help build collaboration, and a sense of community and oneness. If we view things from this perspective, a leader’s role would be to value their teams, facilitate decision-making and encourage opinions.

The leader would also aim to develop other members in the team. His or her role would not be focused on the power they get from their position.

Our basic human need is to belong; if we feel we belong to the organisation we work with, it provides a sense of safety and commitment.

“Leaders who create a strong sense of “us” and a sense of belonging within their teams help staff to feel more positive about their work, this feeling translates to increased levels of engagement,” says Dr Steffens, Lead Researcher in School of Psychology University of Queensland.

This is where family-run businesses can really benefit from extending that sense of family to the wider organisation. Taking a “family approach” means establishing a foundation of trust and a cultural promise to unite as one.

The egocentric, “Leader as a super hero” mindset needs to come to an end. The “Leader as the Enabler” is what businesses need to grow, adapt and operate in an increasingly complex environment.

Rekha is founder and owner of Redstone Consulting, a Performance Consulting firm. [email protected]