Leadership Fundamentals

Professor Adrian Furnham:

The fundamental characteristics of the human species have powerful implications for the nature of leadership at work. And you don’t have to be a pseudo or crypto sociology-biologist (from Venus or Mars) to accept the points.

First, we are social animals: we live in groups. We need/like/prefer the company of others. We like to be included and fear exclusion. We punish with ostracism; with solitary confinement; with abolition to the ends of the earth.

But, being social animals, we need to learn from a very early age to get along with others. Adults have to go to social skills training or emotional intelligence facilitation classes. Those who somehow did not pick up the knowhow of getting along have to go to remedial classes.

Social skills are about perception, charm, flexibility. They are about reading others, amusing them and being aware of how one is coming across. They are about “reading the signals” that others emit verbally, vocally and visually. They are about thoughts and emotions. The EQ movement put emphasis on being able to understand and manage your own and others’ emotions.

Leaders need social skills. They need to be attractive to others; to be able to persuade and charm them. They need to be comfortable around others. More, they need to know how to get along with others who are different from themselves; older and younger; of different education and ethnic backgrounds; friends and enemies.

Some leaders have few social skills. But they never last in the media-sensitive, free market economies. They tend only to be found in corrupt or bureaucratic countries and organizations where politics, force and power determine abilities rather than market forces or the democratic forces of all stakeholders.

Getting along with others starts to be learnt in kindergarten. As does the second fundamental skill: getting ahead of others. Every social group has a status hierarchy. This can be seen in the toddler playground as easily as it can be observed in the boardroom. Some people learn to get ahead: to be among the chosen; to command respect; to be listened to. How many leaders have been head prefect? And head prefect in a school where they have been elected by the scholars, not the teachers: a subtle but important difference.

Every organisation – however seemingly opposed to the idea – has its status hierarchy. The cabinet has “First Among Equals”; monasteries have abbots; orchestras have conductors.

Leaders are chosen on many factors: their ability, charisma, believability; articulacy. You get ahead in different groups through possessing different factors. One “competency” to be Pope is ‘holiness’, a characteristic somewhat specific to that job.

Leaders have to learn to exploit their talents: to be likeable, electable and therefore powerful. There is a skill to getting ahead and another to staying ahead. Apart from the Stalinist method of actually exterminating the opposition any aspirant leader needs to know how to get ahead.

The third feature all social groups have is a belief system. They are ‘religions’ of a sort and they fulfil various functions primarily to give meaning to the capriciousness of life. All ideologies serve a purpose. The more successful the ideology/religion, the more it speaks to the deep and fundamental yearnings of human beings. People need a positive identity, a good story of their past, a sense of mission, etc.

Equally, at work, people need pride in their product, their company, their achievement and their history. It is the job of a leader to tell a good story; to make the past a glorious struggle and the future a certain journey.

There is a difference between spin and ideology; between PR and a belief system. The former are fickle and cynical; the latter are coherent and usually believable.

Leaders need more than a story, a good line or a hopeful message. They need an ideology for their times, their people and their circumstance. Hence all the Mission-Vision rhubarb of recent business gurus. It seems leaders had forgotten this aspect of their stewardship: the ‘meaning-making’ function.

Often the circumstances dictate the appropriateness of the ideology. Today it’s called situational leadership. But there are also enduring themes to all ideologies: justice, honor, equity and so on.People die for their beliefs: a fact manifest from the earliest times to today’s suicide bombers. People will endure great hardship and deprivation for a belief system.

Good leaders know how to exploit, explain and explore beliefs. A great leader gets an ‘ism’ if they are lucky. Hence, Thatcherism, Fordism, etc. Their beliefs are coherent, timely and communicated with power and conviction.

So you want to be a business leader? Here is the test: what is the evidence that you have and can and will get along with others (all others) you need to deal with at work; get ahead of the pack including other board directors, competitors and the press; espouse a timely, coherent ideology relevant to the company, the product and the employees.

Professor Adrian Furnham:

The fundamental characteristics of the human species have powerful implications for the nature of leadership at work. And you don’t have to be a pseudo or crypto sociobiologist (from Venus or Mars) to accept the points.

First, we are social animals: we live in groups. We need/like/prefer the company of others. We like to be included and fear exclusion. We punish with ostracism; with solitary confinement; with abolition to the ends of the earth.

But, being social animals, we need to learn from a very early age to get along with others. Adults have to go to social skills training or emotional intelligence facilitation classes. Those who somehow did not pick up the knowhow of getting along have to go to remedial classes.

Social skills are about perception, charm, flexibility. They are about reading others, amusing them and being aware of how one is coming across. They are about “reading the signals” that others emit verbally, vocally and visually. They are about thoughts and emotions. The EQ movement put emphasis on being able to understand and manage your own and others’ emotions.

Leaders need social skills. They need to be attractive to others; to be able to persuade and charm them. They need to be comfortable around others. More, they need to know how to get along with others who are different from themselves; older and younger; of different education and ethnic backgrounds; friends and enemies.

Some leaders have few social skills. But they never last in the media-sensitive, free market economies. They tend only to be found in corrupt or bureaucratic countries and organisations where politics, force and power determine abilities rather than market forces or the democratic forces of all stakeholders.

Getting along with others starts to be learnt in kindergarten. As does the second fundamental skill: getting ahead of others. Every social group has a status hierarchy. This can be seen in the toddler playground as easily as it can be observed in the boardroom. Some people learn to get ahead: to be among the chosen; to command respect; to be listened to. How many leaders have been head prefect? And head prefect in a school where they have been elected by the scholars, not the teachers: a subtle but important difference.

Every organisation – however seemingly opposed to the idea – has its status hierarchy. The cabinet has “First Among Equals”; monasteries have abbots; orchestras have conductors.

Leaders are chosen on many factors: their ability, charisma, believability; articulacy. You get ahead in different groups through possessing different factors. One “competency” to be Pope is ‘holiness’, a characteristic somewhat specific to that job.

Leaders have to learn to exploit their talents: to be likeable, electable and therefore powerful. There is a skill to getting ahead and another to staying ahead. Apart from the Stalinist method of actually exterminating the opposition any aspirant leader needs to know how to get ahead.

The third feature all social groups have is a belief system. They are ‘religions’ of a sort and they fulfil various functions primarily to give meaning to the capriciousness of life. All ideologies serve a purpose. The more successful the ideology/religion, the more it speaks to the deep and fundamental yearnings of human beings. People need a positive identity, a good story of their past, a sense of mission, etc.

Equally, at work, people need pride in their product, their company, their achievement and their history. It is the job of a leader to tell a good story; to make the past a glorious struggle and the future a certain journey.

There is a difference between spin and ideology; between PR and a belief system. The former are fickle and cynical; the latter are coherent and usually believable.

Leaders need more than a story, a good line or a hopeful message. They need an ideology for their times, their people and their circumstance. Hence all the Mission-Vision rhubarb of recent business gurus. It seems leaders had forgotten this aspect of their stewardship: the ‘meaning-making’ function.

Often the circumstances dictate the appropriateness of the ideology. Today it’s called situational leadership. But there are also enduring themes to all ideologies: justice, honour, equity and so on.People die for their beliefs: a fact manifest from the earliest times to today’s suicide bombers. People will endure great hardship and deprivation for a belief system.

Good leaders know how to exploit, explain and explore beliefs. A great leader gets an ‘ism’ if they are lucky. Hence, Thatcherism, Fordism, etc. Their beliefs are coherent, timely and communicated with power and conviction.

So you want to be a business leader? Here is the test: what is the evidence that you have and can and will get along with others (all others) you need to deal with at work; get ahead of the pack including other board directors, competitors and the press; espouse a timely, coherent ideology relevant to the company, the product and the employees.