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Search the dream, act the dream, and make the dream real.
That’s what we must do. In the summer of 1998, while
I was roaming Silicon Valley in the company of 20-something
CEO’s, an idea struck me –‘dream-searching
leadership’. Twentieth century leaders have been evolving
into 21st century leaders by adopting this way of thinking.
The 21st century leader’s most valuable asset will be
the ability to dream, just as it is for entrepreneurs. These
leaders will make it real. But dream is just another word
unless the idea is implemented effectively. Successful leaders
act on their dreams using good communication, inspiring everyone
in the organization to believe in their dream too. As soon
as one dream becomes real, these leaders go for the next one.
The constant search for new dreams and taking effective action
to make them real is at the heart of dream-searching leadership.
Rather than becoming individualistic, become peoplistic.
You can have the best communication systems, but if you are
individualistic as a leader the organization suffers. Peoplistic
communication is the key. Internet and intranet are effective
communication systems, and management spends large amounts
of money to make such communication systems effective. This
is fine, but most of the time managers make the mistake of
not identifying the difference between the art of communication
and its medium. I have seen CEOs of several large and mid-size
US companies introduce the Internet to make sure there is
effective communication from the top to the bottom. The Internet
does not communicate with people; people communicate with
people. The Internet is only a medium, and even a wonderful-Internet
system does not by itself guarantee effective communication.
Everyone knows the Internet makes communication faster, yet
70% of e-mail receivers do not respond immediately. How many
of them are using the Internet as a fully effective communication
tool?
A peoplistic communicator provides a friendly atmosphere
in which everyone communicates quickly. In large organizations,
communication can fail due to layers of bureaucracy and people
might receive only 10% of the information intended for them.
Effective communication helps break down traditional organizational
hierarchy. It also encourages communication of both good and
bad news, so that any type of news can travel from one end
of the company to the other, and through all levels. The 21st
century leader will be a firm believer in such peoplistic
communication, which is fast and all enveloping.
You should touch the heart, touch the mind, touch the emotion.
While I was working at a General Motors plant as a consultant,
my first assignment was to solve a complex paint problem.
From the start, I realized the root cause of any such problem
would lie beneath the surface, and the solution would be known
to the workers who have daily involvement in that area Generally,
management ignores such workers’ recommendations, does
not value their judgement, and does not even try to understand
them. Management questions their capability, and believes
in outsiders rather than insiders. Furthermore, it does not
consider how detrimental an outsider’s presence may be
to an insider. I was one of those outsiders and, alas, I solved
the problem. The only thing I did was, rather than focusing
on the problem; I focused on the workers who had been involved
with it. I touched their hearts, I touched their minds, and
I created an emotional bond with them. I assured them they
would not be penalized for giving me information. Whatever
they told me, I told the management. Based on my recommendation,
immediate action was taken to solve the problem.
Management must understand that employees’ emotional
commitment is extremely valuable to an organization. To get
them committed to a new strategy, the challenge that management
typically faces is to reduce the time between the conception
of an idea and its implementation. One way of increasing that
commitment is to get people throughout the organization fully
involved in creating the strategy.
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