3 types of leaders for improved organisational competitiveness

Singapore was ranked the second most competitive country worldwide, in the World Economic Forum's "Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016" released on 30 September.

Yet there's no time to rest on laurels, because "the easy part of growth in Asia is over" as a Singapore-based investment banker told me recently. In addition, Singapore's productivity level is 50% to 60% lower for key sectors such as manufacturing, services, and construction, compared to countries like the United States and Japan, in 2010.

I asked a number of company leaders in Singapore what critical areas for competitiveness-improvement they currently identify. They all named innovation, agility, and staff engagement. Staff engagement in Singapore is relatively low – at 9% in the latest Gallup "State of the Global Workplace" survey published in October 2013 – compared to 24% in Australia and 30% in the USA.

Low staff engagement is largely due to inadequate leadership styles that de-motivate employees. Let's explore what leaders can do differently, to enable their people to win the battles ahead for greater competitiveness.

Leaders who become authentic and humble engage their people
Contrast the traditional "boss" model of an all-knowing, never-wrong "father" or "mother" figure, directive and protective of their team members with an experienced, authentic, and humble leader who acknowledges when he or she doesn't know, apologises for wrongdoing, and occasionally asks for help. Which one will team members trust the most and follow wholeheartedly in tough times?

Although team members find it comfortable to work with paternalistic bosses – who assume all responsibility – they know that they will grow faster with a genuine leader who develops an "adult-to-adult" relationship with them. And personal growth is a main motivation driver.

How do leaders become authentic and humble? By acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses, letting go of the delusional goal of being perfect, to instead accept themselves as a "work-in-progress", and then accelerate their growth, embracing mistakes as growth opportunities. As they do so, they bring out their best, gain self-esteem and self-trust, and eventually dare to be "real". Then their team members trust them more, and become keener to engage with them.

Leaders who lift others up enable more initiative and innovation
In his book "Good to Great", Jim Collins showed the importance of 'getting the right people on the bus'. I advocate that leaders also invest time in making people in the bus 'the right people'.

Having overcome their insecurities, authentic leaders become more present and open to others and eager to uncover the best in their team members. As they have discarded their own fear of mistakes, they know how to remove it for their team members when they help them develop new skills and stretch them out of their comfort zone.

In turn, their team members grow self-esteem and confidence, and then take on more initiatives and become more accountable. Higher productivity and innovation result.

Leaders who enable collaboration across departments instill more agility
Once leaders across an organisation are authentic and open, and their team members continuously grow capabilities and self-esteem, it becomes far easier to bring down walls between departments. Instilling a bias for diversity and for the greater good of the company will help leaders foster inter-department collaboration. Streamlining processes and cascading down decision-making to the lowest level possible will further enhance organisational agility. 

Such mindset and behavioural shifts generate collaborative and agile leaders at all levels. They shall help companies to unleash their people's engagement, win the competitiveness battles ahead and uphold Singapore's stellar position.

Data Sources:
https://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/report-highlights/
https://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/164735/state-global-workplace.aspx
https://www.waytogo.sg/what-is-productivity/why-is-productivity-important%23sthash.C0sk5zsG.dpuf