How the ‘X’ factor works in the Corporate World?
In the world of mathematics, an “X-factor” is an unknown quantity that only becomes known after following a prescribed process. This concept of an unknown but vital quality also extends into the world of business and entertainment. Interviewers and judges respectively often speak of an X factor when they consider a number of candidates for a single or top open position. In this sense, the term is used to stand for a certain indefinable quality that may differ one person over the rest in the eyes of his or her critics or examiners, colleagues or partners.
As a true example, And that certainly is what Steve Jobs was in business — an inspiration for the existing and many generations to come; someone who had an “X factor of leadership” that allowed him to alter the course of our world. He, in his capacity, has profoundly influenced both our day-to-day lives and the trajectory of our technological progress that he can be categorized as a force of nature.
Here are five ‘X’ factors that distinguish great leaders clearly. This certainly doesn’t work with traditional organisations where managers work like “horses with blinkers” on but the progressive and futuristic leadership can understand and relate to these traits.
1. Simplifying Complexity
It may sound familiar to you that some of our old fashioned managers love to over-complicate things. They don’t fall under my definition of leadership. As the pace of change and disruption quickens across the world, leaders face an onslaught of new and complex questions. The typical C-suite leader can process vast amounts of data and complexity, often on the fly.
Ability to deal with ambiguity and learning agility have become standard (if unevenly defined) language in executive assessments. They take ownership of complexity by creating simple, operational narratives around it that can be readily understood and embraced by those who work for them.
2. Operationalising Complexity
The next, and typically harder, one is execution. Truly standout executives do more than live comfortably with chaos: They take ownership of complexity by creating simple, operational narratives around it. The best leaders use the simple plan as a foundation for an operational narrative that serves two critical functions.
First, it must include one or two simple frameworks for how the company will carry out its strategy. For example, when Brent Saunders became CEO of Bausch & Lomb, he noticed that its engineers seemed overly focused on getting patents and publishing papers. He started to constantly remind his employees to focus more on the marketplace and customers. “Success needed to be defined as creating products that mattered,” said Saunders.
3. Showing the Bigger Picture
One of the most powerful momentum-killers in organizations is the tendency toward me vs. we centricity. Many friends, especially those who deal with numbers, often identify themselves as a part of a small team, trusting only their immediate circle and perceiving colleagues in other parts of the business as competition for resources rather than part of the collective “us”.
To step outside one’s silo and think across the enterprise means overcoming two fundamental human drivers:
- Tribalism
2. Insecurity
Achieving enterprise-level thinking requires enough self-awareness to understand these impulses and enough self-discipline to overcome them. The company should be the only “us” that matters, and the discomfort of operating outside one’s area of expertise needs, paradoxically enough, to be a comfort zone for the exceptional leader.
4. Working Together, Not Against
The best C-suite candidates need to play well on teams they are not leading. That can be a challenge for many leaders. As they rise through the ranks, executives are encouraged and incentivized to lead teams. Most business teams have given little thought to what it means to be a true team, despite the growing body of academic and strategic work about the power of the team.
The very best leaders, long before they reach the C-suite, start conversations with their teams with certain questions. What do we need to work on together to accelerate the strategy? What are the three priorities that we must tackle as a team? The answers then drive meeting agendas, guide how decisions are made, and focus communications to the broader organization.
5. Leaders Build Leaders
It is not always easy for top leaders, board directors, or HR heads to accurately discern which camp best describes a particular manager. Some people spend time managing up, creating an impression that they are thoughtful leaders, some are known as prudent leaders when they largely ignore the people who work for them. But there is one unambiguous measure for whether a leader builds leaders. Who inside the company has taken on increased responsibility after having worked for the executive?
In my experience, leaders fall into one of the following two camps:
- One group sees people who work for them as assets to help them advance their careers.
- The other sees the potential of their employees, and takes ownership of the responsibility to develop them.
A leader who builds leaders is also more likely to be someone who can retain and develop individuals whose perspectives differ from his/her own or who can afford to agree to disagree. Remember, unity in diversity is the key. It improves strategy execution, and it is a sign of a leader’s ability to build teams that not only can more rapidly exploit emerging opportunities, but also excel at healthy disruption of the company’s traditional ways of thinking and working.
Bottom Line
To summarize, ‘X’-factor leaders create a clear worldview. They win by setting the right priorities, building effective teams, and helping the organization step outside its silos to act as one. And they create diverse sets of leaders and teams — not as an intellectual or civic pursuit, but because they view doing so as key to outperforming the market today and tomorrow. Identifying and developing such leaders should be a galvanizing and energizing imperative for organizations seeking to ensure long-term strategic performance.
In the business world, the ‘X’ factor could be a significant amount of personal charisma or an air of ambition. These qualities would be difficult to quantify, but employers and HR specialists can usually separate candidates who have it from those who do not. The position may require a high level of diplomacy or discretion or personal charm, qualities which are generally considered key factors during the interview process.
About the Author
Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.
