The Leader’s Diet: A Simple and Practical Approach Towards Excellent Leadership

PREFACE

Having managed and lead various teams at various levels within the third sector over eight years, I have realised what it takes to lead teams, execute plans and strategies to achieve expected results. Without any form of doubt, a reasonable leader needs to develop a vision of the organisation’s future, in which there is a need for the right skills and perfect knowledge in knowing how to implement and execute relevant strategies while hitting the nail on the head.

However, it is important for leaders to communicate their vision to stakeholders, knowing the reason for it, and it’s relevance to the organisational current and future situation. Having the right skills –i.e., the required diet - allows leaders respond to stakeholders about questions regarding the parameters needed to execute the organisation’s vision once they’ve known the applicable principles, factors and strategies to make it a reality and a success. It is important to carry stakeholders along, especially investors, so as to be part of the visioning process – i.e., understanding the need for change which enable them visualize the big picture for change.

However, having the right diet would empower a leader to stand for the best in which they believe in. Note that as a leader, you should learn how to build a vision with others on board by taking insights and imagination about a potential line of action, however, this provides the platform for leaders to take initiative. Visioning is a collaborative effort, which facilitates growth and prosperity by gaining others’ commitment and support in achieving it. However, having a vision is one thing and another to develop and formulate the right strategies to make it a reality and remain in line with agreed goals as to produce the expected result, it would be preferable for leaders to consider the situation, factors and parameters surrounding an issue to be dealt with a clearly insight of what might be the possible outcome of any decision before making them. A point of advice for leaders when making decision, mostly in the aspect of executing strategies is that the successful execution pattern for Mr A can be the failure track for Mr B, that’s why leaders should clearly examine the situation regarding an issue indepthly before making decisions.

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world. - Joel Arthur Baker.

WHY THE LEADER’S DIET?

Just as a balanced diet is necessary for the perfect growth of the body to keep it fit and reliable for life, a practical and relevant knowledge remains inevitable for the success and prosperity of any leader within an organisation. In simple and practical terms, the art of establishing leadership is one of the major responsibilities of every focused leader at all levels within an organisation. It helps create personal and organisational goals to make leadership a reality, which serve as the end product of the leader’s vision for the organisation. A vision without a mission or an action is a wish.

Every focused leader should be able to establish their vision for an organisation within a specific and reasonable time provided all resources are in place. According to medical experts, fruits and vegetables are a vital source of vitamins and minerals. It’s advised that we eat at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables each day, backing this statement up with reasonable evidence that people who eat at least five portions a day have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

However, the establishment of leadership can only be achieved through leaders and senior officers having the right skills, alongside knowing the right principles, which enable them to know the best applicable solutions to any relevant issue. The art of establishing a perfect kind of leadership requires the guidance of an effective strategic process having a positive impact on the organisational culture. This would help in drawing the interest and commitment of all stakeholders towards a new organisational culture, which is a strong platform in building relationship via trust between various stakeholders in terms of organisational benefits, such as the expected reward for their efforts and contribution towards organisational success.

In a nutshell, the ability to establish leadership is expected of all strategic level officers within an organisation, because it positions them more responsibly, reliably and accurately in their stewardship to stakeholders in the form of accountability. Every leader is expected to be responsible for the development, communication, and gaining of commitment of both internal and external stakeholders toward the broad organisational goals. However, it’s paramount for leaders to maintain a better relationship with stakeholders, mostly suppliers and wholesalers, to maintain a perfect operational flow. Having the necessary raw materials and other inputs at the right time to meet up the production demand helps make the product available for the consumer in the market at the right time. Furthermore, a breakdown in the organisational production flow would force wholesalers to sell a substitute product and losing their position as market leaders to their rivals, in which takes to play the hard ball game to regain the position, as a football coach once told us back in my school days once you mistakenly pass the ball to your opponent, don’t expect him to do likewise because he knows what he is doing and why he is on the field.

However, the process of establishing leadership helps employees understand how their work relates to the organisational vision and the relevance of it related to the organisational goals. It is paramount for leaders trying to establish leadership to have the ability and insight to identify goals that are aligned with the organisational vision and those which are not, because while establishing leadership, it is important to stick to the organisational culture and direction. However, it reminds leaders of what matters and what doesn’t as an organisation. Leaders need to take steps to shift focus by identifying and acquiring the necessary personnel, resources and information needed for the long term execution of the organisational strategy. Ensuring that resources, time, and attention are allocated in proportion to organisational priorities helps in making profit and maintaining a good reputation both locally and internationally via corporate and social responsibility and other good deeds. A business also needs to have a better competitive advantage over competitors by maintaining a high level position within the industry and market as a whole.

Having an effective operational process is one major target in establishing leadership because it ensures the effective management of organisational resources and also creates an avenue for avoiding wastage by minimising shortfall in operational systems, which helps in identifying the bottlenecks affecting output at every business unit of an organisation on both long and short. Leaders focusing more on the success of operational processes helps organisations to outperform their competitors, because it provides a platform for focusing more effectively on competitors’ existing customers consistently and targeting potentials ones where possible, by finding out their expectations, tastes and preferences through research and development.

However, establishing leadership in many cases does require leaders to exploit and develop an effective marketing strategy by allowing marketing operations, including effective segmentation of existing and potential customers, to develop a specific value offering for target customers. This can be done by offering new products at an affordable and reasonable price, or by putting realistic purchasing power into practice at any given location, period of time and in line with any reasonable set of parameters depending on type of organisation. However, the ability to deliver an outstanding customer experience such as; after sales service, increasing discounts for large scale buyers, awarding of bonuses to regular and long term customers, remains a serious tool in establishing leadership within any given industry because leaders need to be aware of their competitors’ marketing strategies by monitoring their performance on a regular basis, studying the attractiveness of their brands and their latest products, and including the price of each product as it relates to quality, and compares them to those items which they have to offer the market.

However, the ability to execute an organisational strategy more effectively is the major key in any leader establishing leadership. Without a clear vision it is almost impossible for any leader to establish leadership. It helps in retaining a clear picture of how the organisation will look, as well as answering the ‘whys’, ‘when’s’ and ‘how’s’, which are necessary parameters for the organisational direction. For example - asking where we are now, what is the organisation’s current position within the industry and where do we want to be? Every organisation must know its desired position within the industry, and how to get there if it isn’t there at the present time. This involves exploring the strategies, tactics and operational processes required to become industry and market leaders.