Leadership + Management

By M. Isi Eromosele

Leadership is an improvisational art. Leaders need to be guided by an overarching vision, clear values and a strategic plan. What they actually do from moment to moment cannot be scripted beforehand. As such, they must respond as events unfold.

While a plan that is created today may make sense for the moment, tomorrow may bring unanticipated challenges to actions taken today. These challenges would then necessitate adjustments.

Taking a high level perspective can be extremely difficult for a leader to do when he or she is closely engaged on the ground, with multiple events swirling around them. It is imperative for a leader to seek input from a broad range of people, coupled with the need to be aware of hidden agendas. This enhances the ability to broaden the leader’s perspective in the midst of taking necessary corporate actions that is critical to the growth of the company.

As they interrelate with their staff, astute corporate leaders need to observe their own actions and be able to be objectively self-critical, something that is not easy to do.

The management of conflict is one of the most difficult challenges a leader faces in trying to implement organizational change. This challenge may be related to resistance to a proposed change, or may involve opposite views on how the change should be implemented.

It should be understood that conflict is an essential part of a change process and if handled properly, can be hugely beneficial to the organizational, qualitatively and quantitatively. Thus, the crucial role of a true leader in this scenario is to manage the apparent differences is such a way that minimizes their collective destructive potential, while positively harnessing the energy generated by these differences.

One of the most effective ways to affect this is to set up clear rules and processes that give minority opposite views a thorough hearing without being disruptive to the change implementation.

A major challenge that leaders face is to keep the stress level of their employees at a sustained productive level, even while helping them deal with the real threats and challenges facing them.

A leader may moderate the pace of change in order to reduce the staff’s anxiety level. A structure can be established for the problem solving process. Workgroups could be set up to tackle specific projects. Rules can be set up for decision making. Reporting relationships can be succinctly outlined.

Since most organizational changes require an organization’s employees to adapt, leaders should not provide solution answers to the staff. Instead, employees should be encouraged to come up with creative ideas that will result in the successful implementation of the change. This will make them better integrated stakeholders.

Most importantly, a leader needs to distinguish his or her personal self, which serves as an anchor in the discharge of their executive responsibilities and their professional role. The two should never be mixed up. A leader has to understand that often than not, when people attack someone in a position of authority; they are attacking the role, not the person.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

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