Leadership with sense and sensibility
Cristina Campos, The Lisbon MBA Alumni Club president and CPO Head & Country president of Novartis Portugal, shares her thoughts about leadership as a social process and a journey. Leaders should be authentic, she argues, to inspire others and get the brightest side of everyone. There is no room for power or authority. More so because a new all generation is entering the labour market. Here’s her take.
“’Sense and Sensibility’ is, for me, a good model for leadership. It means one should dose the right balance of sense and sensibility, heart and mind, on everyday choices. If we listen to our intuition, leverage our experience, incorporate others opinions and views and then have the courage to make a final decision and go for it, caring about people genuinely, we will not only achieve great things but also have others willing to move mountains with us.
In other words, leadership is a social process meaning that leaders should have the ability to influence others. To do this, a leader needs to give hope (willpower) and clarity (was power). First, she or he needs to instil the energy and belief needed to achieve the goal. For this, I am a firm believer that a leader needs to be motivated and passionate about her/his mission, project, initiative and should dedicate time to explain the purpose (why power). Second, she or he needs to show the way (what do we want to achieve and how) with different levels of granularity depending on the profile of ‘followers’ (namely level of seniority, autonomy, skills and capabilities).
I believe that leadership is a journey. Some people have personal characteristics that make them what many people call ‘natural leaders’. We can see that in children. Nevertheless, we all know many different leaders, and we all have experienced good and bad examples of leadership. I would refer to examples of situations or attitudes and not to people, as I believe people (can) evolve, learn and change. For this, one should have a high self-awareness and be humble and persistent on the change journey.
In a society where bias exists, being a leader of any type of minority (e.g. female in a world where men still have most senior leadership positions) can be a challenge and an opportunity. To succeed as a minority leader, it is important to be self-confident and conscious of own impact in others (as any leader should be but probably even more conscious of ‘unconscious bias’ around us). Above all, a leader should be authentic. People like to follow genuine people that can serve as ‘real’ role models. One should not pretend to be another person or to act ‘as expected’, otherwise he/she will be less powerful in influencing others. It is important to stay true to our values and beliefs and bring this diversity into action. The diversity of thinking will bring innovation. Having said this, in certain situations, being a female leader can require some adaptation of style to increase impact in specific contexts. Being ‘our own best versions’ is usually good advice.
Finally, as the world changes, technology becomes embedded everywhere, new generations enter the workforce, leadership expectations should also change. It is important to stay open and be agile to rethink and remodel our leadership approach. Empowerment replaces power. Inspiration replaces authority. Serving replaces commanding and controlling. Curiosity to learn replaces ‘I know it all’. All these changes should be gradual, contextual and sustainable and this is the beauty of leadership: being able to navigate in a world of polarities and paradoxes, with a smile in the face and brightness in the eyes.”