Leadership and five per cent difference

True leadership is only seen at the time of crisis and if we can’t deliver we should not be leading

Some time back, lawyers attacked a cardiac hospital in Lahore. It took hours for the lawyers to plan and march through the main roads of Lahore until they reached the hospital while no effort was made to stop them. Why are experienced top officers continuously failing to manage crises until they become uncontrollable? I remember back in my college days when our college in Gujranwala held violent processions. A young assistant commissioner was always successful in disarming us with his smiles and smooth talk. One day when he tried to talk to us again, we asked for someone else and told him he was very good at convincing us. Where are those officers these days?

Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people and founder of Amazon, said, “As a senior executive, you get paid to make a small number of high quality decisions.” Unfortunately, this has been reversed in Pakistan’s context. The higher you go the more mundane decision-making you do. Our senior officers are busy doing tasks which should be done by someone five levels below them. Many fail to delegate because they are fearful of losing any relevance as they are unable to make high-level decisions. There is no denying that many work late hours but not for what they are being paid so heavily.

Once at Stanford University I was entering data in my computer late in the evening. A Pakistani friend studying at the business school came to see me and remarked that Stanford was not making a wise decision in managing my time efficiently by making me do something which could be easily done at a minimum hourly salary. From the outside it seems what Bezos does daily can be done by anyone. Outside our government offices, junior officers make the same comments about their bosses. In reality, what they see them doing does not requires any special skills. That is why the political leadership also does not feel hesitant changing them on whim.

Leadership traits are rare to find and need grooming by mentors and supervisors. As a boss we need to protect our employees’ time to ensure they have time to make high quality decisions. We don’t see this happening in our offices as work is just dumped down. It’s not surprising that in the end it comes to the table where it should have been sorted and decided in the first place. But these extra layers of administration are added to show everyone is busy. But why do we need to see everyone be busy while actually doing nothing? Why should we not judge them on the quality of their decisions?

I noticed early in my clinical career that 95% prescriptions by different doctors were similar especially for routine ailments. All prescribed similar classes of drugs. So why did some have thriving practices and some not? Apart from strong communication skills, the other major determinant was their diagnosis and treatment of the 5% difficult cases. Once we assume higher positions and our salaries and benefits increase we need to ensure that we could make those few high-level decisions. For that we need clear vision, broader perspective and ability to make short and long-term strategies.

True leadership is only seen at the time of crisis and if we can’t deliver, then no matter how punctual, honest and hardworking an officer we are, we should not be leading. Political leaders and supervisors also should have an eye for those who can deliver in tough times. Supporting those 5% officers is good for the government and country!

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2020.

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