Readiness for Leadership Responsibility

Contributed by: Bushra / bushrabhurgri2001[at]yahoo.com

Leadership selection is an art, one that is developed with an experience. The question arise: ” How can we cultivate this art?” we have to develop ‘readiness for responsibility’. A good place to start with a clear and reliable concept. Consider the following hypothesis:

“Effectiveness” increases (and decreases) with “the expression of one’s own feelings and convictions, with consideration for the thoughts and feelings of others.”

In practice, this leadership concept is translated: “Speak—Say what you mean and consider the other person as you express yourself.” This leadership readiness concept dates back to the early days of information management, proposed by Hrand Saxenian in 1952 at M.I.T to strengthen the constructive leadership and human judgement in the escalating uses of Technology in the information age.

Since the 1960s this concept has become a widely used, reliable criterion for constructive leadership. At the same time, it has guided the design of simple yet powerful and challenging practices to improve:

• leadership selection,
• information flow and coordination,
  and
• productivity/quality control.

Today, these practices have evolved into proven leadership tools that can be used successfully in businesses from electronics, utilities and manufacturing to banking and architecture.

The usefulness of effective leadership depends upon your confidence in it. While it may seem like common sense, unrealistic, or too subjective, examine it as an idea to be affirmed or refuted. Consider its validity with respect to your own experiences, observations, intuition, values and historical perspectives. Contemplate it first on a leadership selection basis and then on a personal development basis. In other words, examine the relationship of “expression”:

1. to your opinion of the relative “effectiveness” of managers you have known with similar roles and responsibilities.
2. to your perception of changes over time in the “effectiveness” of people you know. Does one’s “expression” change (rise or fall) accordingly?

Using this criterion, effective leaders span all personality types – from quiet to outspoken – and transcend stereotypes. This model is especially useful because it provides a universal, practical potential for increasing one’s own effectiveness under pressure, and for selecting for and cultivating a “readiness for responsibility” in others.

In today’s climate of awareness, it sums up much of the current thinking–with a precision that advances understanding and action.

Effective Leadership Selection

An important factor to your success is your company’s CIO. Select a CIO who will:

• best help coordinate purpose, communications and operations,
• best build and support the creative potential and cooperative spirit essential for a lean responsive IS Division, and
• be psychologically “ready” to meet the combined technical and human challenge and pressures of modern information management leadership.

“Readiness” is placed in perspective with the three other major considerations. When considering these factors together with other peers, the subjectivity inherent in the above concepts takes on a significant objectivity. Among its benefits, this practice fosters the promotion of all individuals in a healthy competitive way.

Introduction of Hrand Saxenian:

Hrand Saxenian has pioneered computer programming at M.I.T. and has taught management controls as Assistant Professor at Harvard, where he also initiated research on leadership effectiveness. Saxenian has served as a project manager at Itek and Raytheon and as Executive Vice President of The Econometric Institute of New York. He currently heads Saxenian Leadership Practices. His work is published in Office of Naval Research Reports, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Technology Review., The Police Chief, National Park Service Papers, .Science today- Bombay, India