Russia-Ukraine Crisis From A Leadership Lens: Why Great Leaders Make Great Blunders

Like all of us, I too am witnessing history unfold with the crisis in Ukraine. A crisis that has and will impact the entire world. As Fareed Zakaria said in his yesterday weekly show on CNN, this crisis will bring discussions back to why liberal democracies (despite being new to human history) are a better bet for civilization. As this crisis unfolds, the one question I and everyone keeps asking why would Vladimir attack Ukraine?  The move seems illogical – both economically and militarily. The answers from experts range from “narcissism” to “stupid” and “unhinged” to “imperial history” with a few talking about it as a great great military move (or really a military misadventure). The next few days, weeks and months will help us understand what the new world order will be — can US reclaim its global position (economic power is greatly reduced), will the EU once again become relevant, will this be a wakeup call for China and its leaders for their own imperial ambitions (albeit more economically), will the recent global movement for being insular economies get a rethink — and so on. The question that really tickles me is why leaders do what they do, which most see as absurd. What goads them on a confident path leading to misadventure?  
 
Here is my take (nothing new but worth reminding ourselves) on what leaders should never forget. This holds true for not just for military and political leaders but people like us who have the honour of running small and large companies. Success is Blinding: Overtime people in positions of power (public sector or private) reach there because they have showcased success (won elections, grown topline, created patents, etc ....) by essentially taking more correct decisions than incorrect ones. Unfortunately, many of us forget, while we make these decisions (as CEOs and leaders) that the decisions are underpinned on the inputs we get (our teams, advisors, ministers and honest feedback). Unfortunately, many leaders over a period of time don’t recognize that distinction. They start to believe every successful decision is a result of their vision and because they have been so successful in the past, they can do no wrong. The result, you let go of advisors who have the power to tell you the truth. Good advisors also have their own share of ego; they would rather not serve you than be seen as a puppet. Thus, such leaders get surrounded by puppets whose only reason to be there is to congratulate you and flame your ego. They neither have the conviction of belief nor intellectual capability to be in powerful positions they hold. Essentially no one tells the emperor that he has no clothes. Growing up, in the comics I read, I would often marvel at great rulers who often went to their subjects in their kingdom as anonymous normal persons to seek first-hand what was happening and get feedback for themselves. Today’s feedback is about carefully crafted photos for Twitter. Have personally witnessed multiple time in my corporate life how leaders don’t want to grow their tents and they are willing to work only with people they have worked before (rewarding “loyalty” over “competence”) and often justifying “pace” to “patience” or wanting “complete alignment” over “building general consensus”.
 
As a professional trained to be a management consultant I always say, don’t tell me the problem but tell me the solution. The solution in my view is rather simple and a reminder to all of us — Ensure diversity at the top. Diversity is not just about gender but includes four more important factors:

1. Background (private vs. public education, rural vs urban, privileged upbringing vs. normal): Our backgrounds define who we are and when we run companies and countries, we need to understand everyone. For instance, corporate leaders must know about people who buy their products as well as those who don’t; political leaders must be aware of people vote for them and people who don’t.
 
2. Age (Young Vs. Old): Every day my 9 and 14 year-old-daughters teach me and surprise me and make me questions my own dogmas

3. Experience (Too Much Vs. Too Little): It is fatal when your management and advisors talk proudly about a solution, they implemented 10-20 years ago and yet as they say those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
 
4. Entrepreneurial/ optimistic Vs. defensive (investor/pessimistic) mindset: When you are successful, one thing you hate the most is “failure/ losing” and that is when you start driving looking at the rear-view mirror rather than the large road ahead.
 
It goes without saying diversity is not about doing the “in-thing” for reporting, photo eps or awards. It is to help leaders be better informed and become more humane.
 
Let me end this by reminding us of what Albert Einstein said: “We must not only learn to tolerate our differences. We must welcome them as the richness and diversity which can lead to true intelligence.” It’s a great thought for the world we live in and the leader we want to work for and for leaders we want to be!

The author is the Co-Founder & CEO of Primus Partners. With a career spanning of about 25 years, he has led large transformation programs and worked with governments in more than 20 countries. 

Nilaya Varma

Guest Author The author is the Co-Founder & CEO of Primus Partners. With a career spanning of about 25 years, he has led large transformation programs and worked with governments in more than 20 countries.