Theme Paper on In praise of the Incomplete Leaders

Submitted By:
Group A Prakash Ghimire Pragya Shakya Chandrakala Gurung Rajesh Silwal Sailesh Rajbhandri

Submitted to:

Prof. Dr. Dev Raj Adhikari

There is evidence that the best leaders are distinctly far from perfect and simply incomplete. The article says that - No leader is perfect. The best ones dont try to bethey concentrate on honing their strengths and find others who can make up for their limitations. The authors state that it is time to stop visualizing the complete leader as a person at the top who has all the answers. They go on to say that leaders shouldn't even try to fill the gap. As they say, . the sooner leaders stop trying to be all things to all people, the better off their organizations will be. In todays world, the executives job is no longer to command and control but to cultivate and coordinate the actions of others at all levels of the organization. Only when leaders come to see themselves as incompleteas having both strengths and weaknesseswill they be able to make up for their missing skills by relying on others. A quick summary of the author's findings suggests that a leader, although incomplete and imperfect, should focus on four essential capabilities: 1. Sensemaking - trying to understand the contexts in which an organization and its people operate. Sense making is similar to creating a roadmap that the team can follow. Good leaders understand the sense making is the continuous process. They let the map emerge from a melding of observations, data, experiences, conversations, and analyses.

2. Relating - building relationships within and across organizations. Building a community of confidants who can collaborate to solve problems. Relating can be done through inquiring, advocating and connecting. People with strong relating skills are typically those who have found a healthy balance between inquiring and advocating. The actively try to understand others view but are able to stand up for their own.

3. Visioning - creating a compelling picture of the future. A leader should be able to articulate what the team wants to create. Leaders who are skilled in this capability are able to get people excited about their view of the future while inviting others to help crystalize that image. If they realize that other people are not joining, they engage in a dialogue about the reality they hope to produce. They use stories and metaphors to paint vivid picture of what vision will accomplish, even if they dont have a comprehensive plan for getting there.

4. Inventing - developing new ways to achieve the vision. Similar to the innovation skills required of entrepreneurs, this is more about execution than creativity. To transform a vision of the future into the present day reality, leaders need to devise processes that will give it life. These capabilities are very compatible with the principles of Quiet Leadership, i.e. community, vision, learning, and balance. No one leader however will excel at all four capabilities in equal measure. Leaders are strong in one or two capabilities. Once leaders diagnose their own capabilities, identifying their unique set of strength and weaknesses, they must search for others who can provide the things they are missing. Leaders who choose only people who mirror themselves are likely to find their organization tilting in one direction, missing one or more essential capabilities needed to survive in a changing, complex world. Its the leaders responsibility to create an environment that lets people complement one anothers strength and offset one anothers weaknesses. In this way, leadership is distributed across multiple people throughout the organization. Once again, quiet leaders are going to disappoint people around who feel that they should have all of the answers. In fact, they shouldnt even try. Instead they should focus on sense making, relating, visioning, and inventing. Building a community of leaders who lead quietly with focus on community and collaboration, learning, vision, and balance - is what this article is trying to communicate.