I've never seen a coin that doesn't have two sides to it. When the coin is flipped, the fortunes of your team can rest on which way it falls. There are many ways that a leader can interpret the metaphor of the two sided coin. There's leading reactively or proactively, by crises or by design, by decree or by consensus. Sometimes, as conditions change, one requires a combination of both sides to steer the ship forward. The difference between success or failure is not solely determined by a single side of the coin, but by which side predominates.
Best leadership practice advises that you
1. Be prepared for what might happen, and
2. Prepare for what you want
Be prepared for what might happen: This is different from being obsessed that something might happen, but rather prepared in case it does. But as George Bush will tell you, preparing for catastrophes doesn't help you win elections (hence his slow response to the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans). So the nature of most business is that we do the most important task at hand first, rather than allocate precious resources to something that may or may not happen. Simply stated, a company will be measured first and sometimes only on its financial results. So why bother about anything else, as long as the bottom line is good over 12 months?
The answer is that something is going to happen one day, because something always does. And the crisis manager will always be caught on the loo having a nap with his trousers around his ankles and the floodwaters rising (SAA CEO Khaya Ngqula's handling of the recent strike is a classic example of this). But the captain who takes some time off from operations to invests a little in planning, will always have a better chance of sustaining his ship in any conditions.
Prepare for what you want: Businesses often acquire initial success by innovation. Once an idea is hatched, and seen to have potential and perhaps demand, something needs to happen to create a real business and take it to the next level. Businesses almost always become sustainable by a deliberate strategy built on a vision and an ability to adapt to conditions using the strategy as the rudder. Strategy is a deliberate step designed to develop creativity into sustainability. Implementation is then managed. But nothing ever happens on it's own, a leader has to step forward to make things happen.
There's been a raging debate for years about whether leaders are born or raised. Well logically, the only way a leader can come into existence is to be born. But it is my opinion that it is extremely rare that instinctive character alone will produce an effective leader. Therefore, leaders are almost always raised up and stand on the shoulders of leaders before them. Sometimes they learn from the mistakes of other leaders, and sometimes both. Once again, you have the two sides of the coin.
You may feel that you're not a leader. Think again. If you're over 3 years old, you've probably been thrust in to numerous leadership situations already. If you lead proactively, great! But don't neglect the need to sometimes be constructively reactive.
Remember that each leader will naturally favour either a consultative or dictatorial style. There will be occasions when your least favoured style is the one required. It has become acceptable today to be consultative. There will be occasions when you don't have time. This is when the ability to make decisions quickly based on the evidence before you will save the day.
What you want to achieve is crystallised in your vision. Prepare for what you want and start doing it, but remember to be prepared for what may happen. You don't want to be undone simply because you failed to plan.
Paul du Toit
