Demi-Gods Have Clay Feet

My thanks to a good friend who asked me, why does leadership development of Gen-Y matter to you? 


I've thought about it all day and conclude that it relates to the early experiences that shaped me. The most significant being the twin of displacement and exclusion.


As a child of Indian immigrants struggling to settle in 1960s London (UK), the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr. ripped a hole in our lives. 


Assailed by petty acts of prejudice and exclusion, we too yearned for a time when we would "not be judged by the color of [our] skin, but by the content of [our] character." For a time, it felt as if hope died with him, because as young person in 1970s Britain, I couldn't see how to "lift...from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."


Yet, his articulation of such high aspirations and my experience of injustice were the lightening rod to my values; as is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Therein lies the essence of my frustration with wasted opportunities as a sector - would an audit of our activity register credit or deficit? Yet, it could be the focus for hope, if we were to reimagine our sector as Organization Unbound asks us to. 


So, as I 'reimagine', the next question is: who should lead this process. And here, the Article's use of the word 'reason',  inspires me. 


I ask myself, what if:

• Activities impacting on communities were to be delivered through coherent and consistent processes, offering a layered response to human need and aspiration
• Those at the heart of the experience were to emerge as leaders,  shaping a dialogue with 'power' at mezzo and macro levels on the issues impacting upon them and their community?

What impacts would result?

Of course, I am aware that terms such as 'brotherhood' will inevitably arouse the cynics. 


However, confronted with the crisis of an aging population and a shift in economic primacy towards the orient; moving to a 'solid rock of brotherhood' strikes me as an economic, as well as social imperative. The wastage of human talent is no-longer sustainable.

None the less, such a shift demands that 'power' stand down and become accountable. How often in recent years have we pointed a finger of accusation at  unaccountable power: banks, trans-nationals, auto-manufacturers and governments.


Yet, should we not also look to ourselves and the way we exert 'power' at the micro-level. As providers and gatekeepers to resources, we knowingly or unknowingly are engaged in a power dynamic. 


My question is: overall, to what extent do we as a sector, organizations, and individuals, maintain the status quo by our behaviors and expectations of the people we serve?

I believe innovative, inspiring organizations continually grapple with this challenge. Their leaders seem to intuitively recruit people who are sensitive to the ambiguities of the situation and are mindful in their behavior.

So, if we are to reimagine the sector, we must ask whether the status quo makes economic or business sense? Or, do we equip the next generation to influence change and utilize their globalized perspectives to create a more savvy approach to social change?

Of course, for those with power, it will demand as a given an acceptance that demi-gods have clay feet and require an allowance for difficult questions to be asked of them, such as: 

• What did you get right and what did you get wrong?
• Were you, as an organization, competent to perform at all levels? 

However, imagine how rapid change will be, once they, Gen-Y, have a platform from which to exert influence. How liberating will it be to have a shared leadership operating at all levels.

"Grooming the Leaders We Deserve"

I am grateful to be introduced to Organization Unbound, a blog "attempting to re-imagine the way we think about and engage with social change." It rightly cites that in so many organizations, the disconnection between vision and culture is a major stumbling block for social change. They asked: how many community organizations display little community within? 


It prompted me to recall the many painful experiences where this was so; where the fundamentals of respect were absent and the politics of disrespect reigned supreme. Yet, these experiences were the spur for me to try to do better - for such was the waste: of time, of energy, of talent and money.


And now I remember my growing pains as a leader and those who, over the years, have come to be my critical friends. Each, in their own way, challenged me to confront the one question that we, as a sector, seldom ask:  


What is the cost of failure to perform?


Yet, it is the question that as leaders we must engage with. If not, all efforts and resources will fail to achieve the ultimate goal: social change. What this means, is for us to decide as a sector.


Meanwhile, these encounters invariably felt brutal and often akin to a personal attack. However, in time I came to differentiate between busy activity and purposeful activity. Thus began the most difficult journey for me: moving from my need to be liked, to taking responsibility for the consequences of under- or non-performance.


Although painful at times, I eventually came to accept that my primary responsibility was to ensure that all effort was directed toward fulfilling the purpose of the organization in the most effective and efficient way possible.


It was the making of me: for too long I had disabled myself with my anxiety over the welfare of staff and their livelihood. Thankfully, I did eventually get it clear in my head, and in my heart, that it was fair to expect everyone involved to do their best and that my job was to:

• Set out my expectations of what was required of them as individuals, team members and representatives of the organization
• Provide appropriate support to enable each of them to perform optimally 
• Streamline systems, processes and procedures to facilitate their effort

Armed with this clarity, I eventually learned to manage the tension between the politics and culture of the organization to ensure that progress toward the organization's purpose was the focus of all activity.


Creating a culture for this to flourish is something that inspiring leaders do well. For me, it was done through a deep engagement with core values and articulating the behaviour I expected of us all. This proved easier said than done - for it threatened the status quo: but once achieved, it more than paid off in terms of performance.


Suddenly, there was a unity between values and: culture, politics, behaviour, vision and performance. Finally, I came to experience the  meaning of the adage: preparation creates opportunity from which magic flows.


Therefore, preparation of young leaders must begin with a process by which  they fathom out the  connection between vision, values and culture. Only then will they work out how they will achieve a clear sense of purpose.


Inevitably, it will involve personal challenge for them too. But it will allow for strong leaders to emerge with the attributes delineated in Jean Crawford's report, Profiling the Nonprofit Leader: getting the leaders we need.....grooming the leaders we deserve.*




* For a copy of the report please email me (maviscfernandes@gmail.com) and I will happily send you a copy

Finding the DNA of Transformation

Upon meeting an inspiring leader, I am always intrigued by how their personal history informs their ability to nurture the potential of others.  Such transformative power comes from a deep understanding of what it means to be human. 

Clarity for me was achieved early in my career. Thanks to a series of eye opening encounters with successful, powerful people who, finding themselves in unfamiliar territory, revealed the same vulnerability I felt so intensely.

I realized that vulnerability defines us all, because:

·We are born of trauma and struggle to heal; yet we expend a huge amount   of energy masking this fact

·We fear our loss of dignity, so we cling to conformity; yet we long to be recognized for our uniqueness

·We yearn to belong, to be celebrated for our individuality; yet we live in fear of being judged for the very qualities that set us apart

Therefore, I've come to realize that for those engaged in transforming communities, the first task is to embrace these vulnerabilities. Next is to free ourselves of the impulse to differentiate ourselves into 'boxes': mainstream/ marginalized, clever/stupid, educated/uneducated, successful/unsuccessful, rich/poor etc. Only then, can we embrace what fundamentally connects us and forge new ways of working together.

I demonstrated this point to some students recently: I asked them to introduce themselves by name and tell me one thing  that they liked about themselves. The anxiety was palpable as each scrambled to think of the most anodyne but safe thing to say about themselves. 

The point was taken: we are all in need of greater self-esteem and self-confidence to be ourselves. Inspiring leaders know this, most by intuition. 


Consequently, it leads me to ask:

·What if, through a deliberative dialogue, they were enabled to crystalize their understanding and how it informs the core values of their organization?

·What transformative power would it unleash - to spell out the DNA of their approach and share it with kindred spirits in Gen-Y?

Adding Value Through Partnerships

As I reflect upon the scale of the challenge in attracting strong Gen-Y leaders to the sector, I recall my daughter's primary school was named after the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen: the relentless pursuit of excellence through small but continuous acts of improvement.


The thinking clearly has its merit. So much so that a friend told me recently that the approach has come to the attention of some in the pharmaceutical industry as a means of improving sales.


So, it got me thinking. What if the not-for-profit sector were to look further afield and allow their thinking to be challenged in new ways? 


What if practitioners of Kaizen were to work with inspiring organizations in our sector to develop an approach fitting the culture and values of our sector? 


What added-value would this kind of cross-sector partnership provide to Gen-Y leaders as they cut their teeth as change agents and beyond?


The Kaizen Way

Competing for the Gen-Y Talent Pool

I recently encountered a marvelous woman who over the years has led variety of national not for profit organizations.

Before long, I found myself revealing the hidden cost of being a leader. As we exchanged our symptoms of physical suffering at moments of great stress, I was reminded of the refrain from Bruce Cockburn's song, The Trouble With Normal: "But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse."

As I left, I was startled that she expressed thankfulness for the opportunity to share this dirty secret of our sector!

It leaves me pondering whether it is right to bequeath such levels of distress to Gen-Y leaders - or should we, this generation of leaders, pause and honestly review what has gone before.

I know that when I entered the sector almost 30 years ago, it was with idealism and ignorance in equal measure.

While the up and coming generation have as much idealism, they are the internet generation; and this represents a game-changer for the sector.

This generation is critically aware and won't be fobbed off with platitudes. They are admirably discerning about how they expend their energy. They are results driven in a way that I so admire.

So, as I left my meeting - I realized that the crisis of leadership in the sector is more entrenched than I had first understood.

It is more than an issue of under investment in leadership training over the years. It is a crisis of credibility in the eyes of Gen-Y. The more able among them differentiate between busy activity and productive activity.

They want to invest their time and talent effectively and if we are to compete in the talent market place, we will need to understand what our unique selling point is.

A 'Shaping Leadership'

I have been thinking a lot about the idea of a 'shaping leadership' as the foundation for transforming communities. It seems to me that in any community, you will find inspiring individuals, doing astonishing work. However, they may be working in diverse fields and not be known to each other.

What if they were to come together, share their perspectives and arrive at a unified vision for their community?

What if they saw themselves as a hub for transformation, combining their networks to achieve agreed goals and devise new solutions to seemingly intractable problems?

What if these leaders were to engage in a process to understand what made them effective - beginning with their core values and working towards an understanding of the building blocks to their approach?

Armed with such clarity and an agreed approach to mentoring, what impact will these inspiring leaders have on the Gen-Y and the community they serve?

Of course, it will require courage, conviction and generosity of spirit to make it possible:

• Courage, to stand down as an 'expert' in order to participate in the task of genuine enquiry

• Conviction that success is possible and that individuals and communities can achieve great things

• Generosity of spirit towards everyone involved, providing a cornerstone for capacity building at all levels

So, how will we judge the success of a 'shaping leadership'...?

By their ability to develop a generation of new leaders who, when the "work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves!' "

Lao Tzu, Taoist Philosopher

Establishing Transformational Leadership

For me, the task of a leader is to set a vision and inspire others to do their best. From this, great things are possible.

History has proved this. Robert Noyce, co-founder of the company that eventually became Intel, was an early inspiration for Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who went on to establish Microsoft and Apple respectively.

Likewise, Niels Bohr, the father of sub-atomic physics, inspired a young group of physicists to challenge the might of conventional knowledge.

So, what is possible if young leaders were to develop their skills under the guidance of today's inspiring leaders? What would be the multiplier effect for community transformation?

It is a challenging prospect - not least for the established leaders. It will require letting go of control and allowing 'divine anarchy' to take hold at times, so that new ways of thinking can emerge. Yet it is the only way to grasp the challenge of transformation.

Existing leadership training has had limited success. I think it is because such training defines an 'ideal' set of tools but does not provide a process for working out how to integrate them with the philosophy and ethos of each trainee.

From my own experience, authentic leadership begins with a fundamental understanding of one's core values and unique perspective of what it means to be human.

Consequently, a leader works hard to create an organizational culture where it is safe to take risks and strive to do one's best. He or she, therefore, is a guardian - safeguarding personal dignity and inspiring others to use their talents and abilities to optimize performance.

A New Kind of Leadership

The global crisis of leadership of recent years is an opportunity to rethink what kind of leaders we want to see in the second decade of the 21st century.

So I want to ask you, the young generation, to envision yourself as a leader. I want to know:

"If you knew you were going to be successful as a leader in the next ten years, what kind of help and advice would you ask of today's inspirational leaders?"

I want to know because there is much talk about mentoring or coaching as an effective approach in leadership development. However, there doesn't seem to be any clarity as to the purpose of either.

I think it should be about anticipating future challenges and working together to take what is useful from the past and combining it with new and innovative ideas to create something new.

What do you think?

Welcome to Gen-Y Leaders

This is the first post of the Gen-Y Leaders blog.

Now, what is Gen-Y Leaders?

Well, it is my way of thinking about the next generation of leaders who will inherit the opportunities, and problems created by my generation.

So, as I turn 50, I can't help but think about the people from my childhood who shaped me with their wisdom. I realize now that as the generation that faced 2 World Wars, their acts of kindness were also a testament to hope for a better future.

It leaves me thinking about my responsibility to the next generation. What problems will they be facing as my generation begins its journey into history?

What is possible if the wisdom of experience is fused with the audacity of youth?