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Business World Aug 07, 2015

Through this book, Ibarra makes you realise that leaders need to act both within the functions or companies they lead and also within themselves, writes K.V.S. Seshasai I once heard of a very successful area sales manager (ASM) who refused to get promoted despite a fantastic performance in one of the group companies. I dug deeper to find out WHY? The sales head of the company told me that the said ASM (let’s call him Guru from here on) would be coming to office for a sales review meet and I could meet him then. I met Guru who, to my surprise, had been an ASM for the past 10 years despite delivering year-on-year growth and stronger performance than ever before. He had won every possible sales award that there was. He told me something quite fascinating and what he said clearly tells you WHY some people make the cut and some don’t. He said that he was great at closing sales. He could make any sale happen but when  he was asked to work with some other people on a project he just couldn’t bring himself to perform. Self-centred and egoistic, some might say. Let us dig a little deeper. Did Guru know his capability? Yes. Did Guru know  his limitations? Yes. Did Guru know the impact of not working on his limitations? Yes. Did Guru want to work on his limitations? No.  <table style="width: 200px;" align="right" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/Mr-KVS-mdm.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;"></td></tr><tr><td>K.V.S. Seshasai</td></tr></tbody></table>This last question and its answer is the difference between a leader and those who are excellent salesmen, excellent sales managers and excellent operations managers. Give them a leadership task and the ones who act versus those who just think will make the cut. In Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, Herminia Ibarra hits a sweet note in the way she builds a fascinating, articulate and accurate description of what shapes leaders and their success stories. The focus on the ‘act’ as the precursor of ‘think’ turns a lot of management gyan on its head. What is unique about Ibarra’s insightful assessment of the traits that shape leaders is the fact that she seems practical and pragmatic in the way she depicts the “Act” of leadership and cites real life examples. The ‘Outsight Principle’ seems plucked out of my own life where I have always observed that people who end up leading are those that left their comfort zones to acquire knowledge and experiences that drove them to Act. Too often, in day-to-day jobs, managers tend to get trapped thinking “how can I do what I do a little better”, whereas leaders think what they can do differently that changes the paradigm. That, to me,  the very fact that someone is bridging boundaries, taking up new challenges and is willing and accepting change, is the person that I view as a future leader and that is what Ibarra mentions constantly. Something else that struck me about Act Like A leader, Think Like A Leader was the way Ibarra slices through the concepts of networking, authenticity and storytelling to differentiate the leadership styles of people. It left me thinking whether the passion for authenticity can sometimes be a drawback and that leaders need to probably craft new identities and new stories — the belief in which needs to be inward and the outsight thereafter will drive the believability in the outside world. Through a range of self-assessments, Ibarra manages to make you ‘Act’ and realise the changes that leaders need to act upon — both within the functions or within the companies that they lead and also within themselves. The book is also an excellent guide for new leaders who have just stepped into leadership roles and seek to establish themselves as visionaries and leaders of the future. From ‘Disconfirmation to Internalisation’, Ibarra weaves an excellent and very practical guide that can help young leaders truly step up and be counted. I must revisit the story of our star, ASM Guru. I well and truly believe that the reason he was scared of leading was because he was stuck in his ‘Competency Trap’. And that he would have made a terrific leader had he looked outside and acted. As a guide that can truly help you assess where you stand and thereby act, the book is an eye opener and a fantastic tool that uses the ‘Outsight Principle’ to change the way you see yourself and others as also how others see you. Creating the slack in our schedules to act differently can truly help us get started in the way we act and, to me, that is something that all young leaders should internalise. Who doesn’t like a young leader who can make things happen? I wish all young managers who aspire to lead to read this and get started, as change is imminent and it begins with you.   Seshasai is CEO, Zee Learn (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 24-08-2015)