If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything. While our society encourages us to be well – rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds mediocrity. Perhaps the greatest misconception of all is that of the well – rounded Leader.

1. Many of us are going to have butterflies in our stomach
as we drive to workpost COVID -19 lockdown. While we
rarelylook forward to the start of a workweek, this time
it is going tobe different after all the lockdownhasfrozen
time for over 40 days.
But the pangs inour stomachis going to be for a different
reason. Many of us may wonder why this particular
feeling is going to be so much worse. We may be
perplexed because the last time we had a break from
work was one of the best days we couldremember. As we
get down from our vehicle, before getting intooffice, we
can figure out why the last break from work was so
enjoyable. You are right, our Manager was not at work.
That was goodnews to our team. The bad news was that
our Manager was attending yet another course that
wouldequiphim tobe a better Leader. As we walk across
the security, our stomach will tighteneven more whenwe
remember what happened the last time our Manager
went to one of those Leadership workshops.
Remember a year back, our Manager had attended a
conference that explored Obama’s leadership styles. On
his return, our Manager predictablyspent the next month
trying to teach everyone of us in our team to be
“exceptionalcommunicators”. I know, it gives us a reason
to chuckle recalling how awkward it was for the
programmers in our office, who usually preferred typing
codes to talking. Fortunately, like all our Manager’s
phases, that one came to an abrupt halt once he was
given a book to read which suggested that the best
leaders had humble personalities, and he subsequently
quit pressuring our more introverted colleaguesto be the
next Obama.
A ME-TOO LEADER – COVID – 19 Inspired When we enter the main building, we have nochoice but
to pass throughour Manager’s cabin, and the knot inour
stomach willtighten. As if oncue, our Manager willwave
at us. We will, reluctantly, leanagainst the door frame of
the opendoor. Inour mind, we willcynicallywonder what
flavour will be served up onus thispost COVID – 19 lock
down. But to be cordial, we will ask - how was the Lock
down experience.
After telling us how peaceful and pollution free it was
staying at home, all these 40 days, our Manager will cut
to the chase. He will certainly declare, his big takeaway
from this forced lockdown was that we all need to be
more adaptive to change inorder to survive, stabilise and
grow our business. Our Manager is going to leanforward,
look us earnestly, andcontinue, during the lockdown, he
went througha ZOOMtrainingsessioninwhichanactivity
where each of the participants had to map out how
quickly they adapt to the new market trends. Well, like
everyone else, he is going to say, it turned out that non
spend nowhere near enoughtime readyingourselves for
big change. If we’re going to lead our team, we need to
not only anticipate, but better yet, create change. Our
Manager will rumble onfor next 1 hour or so, but we have
to get the message right away:The Leadershipbuzzword
for the next fewweeks or months is goingto be “Change”.

2. As we walk away from our Manager’s cabin, we can
already anticipate the moans and groans of our peers
when they hear about the latest fad. Then we will
suddenly realise something about our Manager that
almost willmake us feel sorryfor him. While he has spent
much of his career in a leadershiprole, the vast majority
of his efforts have beenfocusedon tryingto mimic traits
of leaders he has known or read about.
His laptop folders will be stored with weighty tomes
about famous political and business leader, dead and
alive. Whenour Manager speaks inteammeetings, he will
frequently quote the company’s CEO and other leaders
who have appeared in the social media and the ZOOM
calls. On occasion, usuallywhentalking to his peer group
of managers andleaders inthe organisation, our Manager
will even put together a ‘greatest hits’ list ofall the videos,
Online training courses that he has seen, learned from
studying historical leaders and modern-day corporate
chiefs. He will describe how all leaders must be
empathetic, creative, disciplined, strategic, humble,
decisive, and of course, great communicators.
We will see our Manager has spent most of his career
striving to be just like the leaders he admires. Yet he fails
to realise that the people he looks up to are all very
different. There is no single person who embodies even
half of the characteristics on our Manager’s exhaustive
list of what makes a well – roundedleader. And perhaps
most strikingly, the one leader our Manager knows the
least about is HIMSELF.
If you spend your life trying to be goodat everything, you
will never be great at anything. While our society
encourages us to be well – rounded, this approach
inadvertently breeds mediocrity. Perhaps the greatest
misconception of all is that ofthe well – rounded Leader.
Organisations are quick to look for leaders who are great
communicators, visionarythinkers, andwhocanalsoget
things done andfollow through. All ofthese attributes are
desirable and necessary for an organisation to succeed.
But of all the leaders we would have read and viewed
these 40 days of lockdown, we will realise, we are yet to
find one whohasworld class strengthinall of these areas.
Sure, many leaders can get by or are above average in
several domains. But paradoxically, thosewho strive tobe
competent inallareasbecome the least effective leaders
overall.
www.buildhr.co.in