There is a classic quote on Habits by the legendary speaker-trainer Brian Tracy: “Good habits are hard to develop but easy to live with; bad habits are easy to develop but hard to live with.” To give a twist to this, we can say: “It is easy to be boring, but difficult to lead people; it is difficult to become interesting, but easier to lead people.”
Many people managers are simply too predictable. Their team members can more easily guess what their manager’s next act or ‘sermon’ might be. Leadership becomes complex when we move from an individual contributor role to a management role. The ability to move from ‘being a doer’ to ‘getting things done’ is not as seamless that people or organisations think.
It is complicated to lead people, but for it to be effective, the process begins from within. The quality of self-leadership is the foundation of leading people effectively. How you lead yourself and your life reflects in the way you lead teams.
Teams look up to their managers not just for direction, but also to get some inspiration from time to time. People prefer predictability of processes (inevitable in any case) over predictability of managers. One of the key facets of leadership is to make the journey interesting for individuals and the team as a whole. That begins by the manager becoming a more interesting person.
There is really no set formula to become more interesting. Fundamentally though, it begins by developing a zest for life and the kind of work we do, which would automatically reflect in the way we project ourselves and are seen. Being boring comes from lack of content that adds value beyond the immediate scope of work. Everyone realises the need to work everyday and the ‘inevitability of the routine’. But it is up to managers to propel their team with timely impactful communication that highlights the deep connectedness even with seemingly unconnected areas of life.
Many companies invite retired army professionals to share insights from their area of work and co relate that with management at the workplace. Though defence life and the corporate world are seemingly unconnected, the content enrichment allows the speaker to establish the relevant connection.
Similarly, leaders can draw parallels from sport too, and that too from a vast canvas of varied types of games. Connectedness is at the heart of establishing people connect, as also practising the art and science of management.
Becoming a more interesting person stems from curiosity, humility and a strong learning appetite. They are the fuel to build perspectives and broaden horizons. This is especially critical for people in management roles as they may often need to go beyond the obvious to fetch answers to complex questions and find solutions to complex problems.
Becoming a more interesting person in itself is an exciting and continuously evolving journey. So, simply ask yourself from time to time, “How Interesting Am I?’
(Hariharan Iyer is a seasoned Motivational Speaker, Corporate Trainer and Author of multiple management books. His latest release is Off Stump – Life And Management Lessons From Cricket. He is the Founder-Creator of Hariharan’s School Of Success Education (HSSE) - www.thehsse.com. He is popularly referred to as The Enter-Trainer®. He can be reached on hariharan@thehsse.com).
