Humility is the only X-factor of Inspirational Leadership
***All names and situations mentioned in this blog post are fictional and bear no resemblance to reality. Any similarities are purely coincidental.***
Gen CapTech, a fintech company, has just secured their next round of funding of 450 crores to help them scale up and become the industry leader over the next 3 years. They are heavily funded by industry leaders from the U.S., U.K. and Singapore.
The fintech company operates in a rapidly growing market segment with a strong competitive position and a well-defined growth strategy. Given the recent funding of 450 crores, the company has ambitious growth plans and aims to scale its operations significantly over the next three years.
They have set a reasonable revenue target of 260 crores over the next three years.
CEO Ajinkya Puri decided to operate from their Singapore office, and considering the expected growth, he, along with the Board of Investors, decided to hire a COO from outside. As an organization, they have an open culture and encourage people to embrace failures and mistakes, thus enabling them to grow and scale up without fear of failure. This policy has been doing wonders.
Arijit Pandya is hired as the COO of Gen CapTech after multiple rounds. A Chartered Accountant with an MBA in Operations Management and industry experience of over 18+ years, scaling up operations is his forte. He has a proven track record of helping organizations scale up at incredible rates. Flamboyant, with great clarity and extreme courage, he loves being around people but has zero tolerance for average performance. He loves being around top performers and high-potentials. If you do not meet his standards, you are considered a failure and will eventually be forced to leave.
Within three months of joining, he started changing the culture, eventually eliminating the open culture and instilling fear of survival among the organization’s people. Scaling up becomes the mantra, giving no option to people but to survive, grow, prosper, or leave if they aren’t above their standards.
Seeing him take charge, other leaders embrace his style and start hiring and firing people based on poor performance, despite there being no ratings that define good, great, and bad performance.
While the organization continues to grow at a steady rate, there is no love left for the company. Fear has taken over, and a culture of sycophancy and pleasing replaces loyalty and humility. They may be a successful fintech giant, but to me, they have failed as an organization because they lack HUMILITY!
Humility is being human; it is recognizing your innate strengths and utilizing them to help others become aware of who they are and leverage their strengths! Humility enables you to not let success get to your head.
You may be the CEO, COO, or CTO of a multibillion-dollar company, but if you lack HUMILITY, you are less of a human and more of a tyrant.
As a leader, you are responsible not just for scaling up and bringing in the moolah; you are equally responsible for the growth and development of your people. Arrogance won’t get you anywhere. People may stick around for a while, but they are here because they believe in you and what the company stands for. Do not take that for granted.
Humility goes beyond politeness; it is the ability to let other people shine and grow. Just focusing on scaling at a crazy rate and letting go of your loyal employees is a sign of a weak and insecure leader.
Reflect on your behavior as a leader, reflect on your culture and values, but most importantly, focus on developing your people and making them what they truly represent.
Here is your formula for becoming an Inspirational leader:
Self-awareness + Purposefulness + Resilience + Empathy + Humility = Inspirational Leader. Humility is your X-factor.
In leadership, humility stands as the X-factor, infusing authenticity, empathy, and a genuine commitment to the growth and well-being of individuals and the organization.
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