Leadership associated problems - learn from animal world

Leadership is bound to cause insecurity and fear. This essential message nature has in excess to share to the corporate leaders.

More than the followers or people who love to live in groups, the leaders suffer a lot from the fear of loosing their power, position and respect. But the followers do not have such problems because they neither bother for the leaders nor do feel about loosing them. All they look forward is to follow someone.

The leadership associated fear and insecurity among corporate leaders are more due to a sense of 'undue self importance'. The corporate leaders think too much about themselves and assume that only the position and power has made them to be a leader with great respect. Once the position and power is gone, automatically all the respect they enjoy also would cease. The most important thing they never consider is about how they have become a leader.

Only the respectable qualities were the precursors for the power and position offered to them in the corporate. But unfortunately once they become a leader with power and position, they forget to develop or enhance the respectable qualities than protecting power and position they enjoy. In many instances, they tend to loose those qualities to remain in power with position. In this race, they always carry fear and insecurity.

Look at the animal world. Never the 'leader lion' in a pride or the 'matriarchal female elephant' in a heard would fight within the group to remain at the top position. All their preparations will be to deal animals from other pride or heard and protect its group.

Look at a rooster or male love bird; they vocalize the most to display their dominance and hierarchy. The rooster gives wakeup call to alert others but in the case of corporate leaders, they seldom wake up to the realities in general and engage seriously in blame game for any serious error due to their leadership qualities.

'Committed leadership qualities' can be seen in animal world as against 'coveted and conniving leadership qualities' as shown by many corporate leaders. The core value and ethics needs to be developed to remain top in the leadership ladder and not causing fear and insecurity in the team by misusing the power and position.

'Commitment to the team' is what shown by animals in nature as against 'commitment to the self' seen with many corporate leaders. Understand your leadership qualities and its causes. Enhance the cause and forget the consequences. Result is after all the reward of your meaningful effort.

Ref: Management Book – Jungle wisdom for corporate management – lessons from the university of nature by Swami Sukhabodhananda and Dr S Ranganathan