Elaborates on the five paradoxes of leadership development

Embrace the leadership polarities

Elaborates on the five paradoxes of leadership development

    In 2011, the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) teamed up with the Center for Creative Leadership to study how leading companies in Asia build leaders faster than the competition. We uncovered five paradoxical insights that are crucial for developing top leaders in Asia. 

 

    PARADOX 1: TO FOSTER LEARNING WHILE EMPHASISING DOING When we asked business leaders what accelerated their own development the most, many mentioned real-life experiences, such as turning a business around or overseeing a complex merger and acquisition. Yet, too many companies today still invest disproportionate time and money into classroom-based initiatives like executive education courses or eMBA programmes. Why does this happen? One reason is that individuals often do not know which experiences are most important for their development and of ways to identify and secure such experience. Our research suggests that leaders need to do two things. First, develop a firm vision of what you would like to achieve in your career. Second, create flexible plans that allow you to identify the experiences needed to achieve your career vision. 

 
PARADOX 2: TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT WHILE SLOWING DOWN
As we sought to understand how leaders accelerate their growth, we realised that the best leaders were able to slow down, engage in deep reflection, and plan for their longer term development. While almost everyone we speak with recognises the importance of slowing down, many struggle to find the time to engage in deep reflection. We discovered that deep reflection need not be a timeconsuming affair – we simply need to be smarter in when and where we engage in reflection. 

 
PARADOX 3: TO EXCEL AT THE TASK WHILE HARNESSING RELATIONSHIPS Many Asian cultures appreciate the importance of relationships, and yet in today’s fast-paced work culture, too many leaders adopt a transactional approach to leadership and do not take the time to build personal relationships with their colleagues. The best time to build relationships is before you need to. Think about a colleague whose help you need the least. Now find an opportunity to help this individual. 

    PARADOX 4: TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS WHILE LEARNING FROM FAILURE Failure is not the opposite of success. Failing to learn is. Good companies encourage individuals to openly recognise and learn from their failures. Great companies encourage individuals to share their failures and learnings with others. Many leaders we speak to in Asia confide that they struggle with this paradox as failures can be very painful. The pain of failure prevents many leaders from acknowledging them, but they also ensure that the lessons from the failures are deeply entrenched and not forgotten. What can you do to create a culture that is open to learning from failure? Craft and share a failure story with your colleagues. Be sure that your story covers the pain of failure, what you learnt and how you applied those learnings to succeed in future endeavours. 

 
    PARADOX 5: TO DEVELOP GREATNESS WHILE PRACTISING HUMILITY
    Remarkably, the greatest leaders are often the most humble. While many Asian cultures have traditionally emphasised the importance of humility, a challenge is that many corporations seem to reward those who are best at self-promotion. Another challenge is that many leaders struggle to maintain humility as they achieve greater career success. How can you stay humble? Think about your greatest success as a leader. Now, list down all the ways by which others – and serendipitous factors – have contributed to this success. This simple exercise can remind you that your greatest successes are not yours alone.
    Implicit is the notion that each paradox contains two seemingly opposing polarities. In today’s world, there is often an imbalance that needs to be restored. However, what we have learnt is that both polarities are important. The potential of each paradox is fully realised when both polarities are embraced.