Who are Ruthless Leaders?
My readers have recently asked me to write an article on “Why leaders become ruthless?” Though, I have already written a few articles with similar connotations, viz.: Pakaaoo Bosses, Leadership Diseases and Intellectual Arrogance in the Corporate World, yet I think it is important to directly identify who these characters are and whether or not these people deserve to be regarded as “leaders” in the first place or are they simply better task masters and nothing else?
Many of the existing organisational leaders pretend that they mean “business” only and that they have a sharp eye to assess people at a glance, which in many cases, doesn’t work in today’s competitive business environment. Few CEOs I’ve worked with, proudly admit of being “ruthless,” much less brag about it. But plenty of them are still operating from that old-school playbook. The classical ruthless leader leads from the top, with a simple message: “Get it done”. If this sounds like you, stop now.
As time changes and businesses evolve, I feel it is fundamentally important that we start seeing the brighter side of things around us. In this article, we shall discuss some of the positive dimensions to appreciate the very notion of “Ruthlessness”.
1. High on Integrity
Today as a leader, one needs not to compromise on ruthless integrity. This is a basic ethical requirement in human life and helps build a culture that demands and supports candor from everyone. If we want to work smarter with speed, we need the unvarnished facts and the best of everyone’s thinking.
Of course, candor doesn’t preclude diplomacy or compassion. It’s about transparency. If we or parts of our organization are operating in silos, in the dark, workplace politics kicks in and efficiency goes down the drain, that’s the point the leadership needs to wake up and worry about. When we are high on integrity, and demonstrate it, we signal confidence in ourselves and our people, and set a high bar for rest of the organisation. Ruthless integrity isn’t just a powerful tactic; it’s part of a bigger, new ruthless strategy.
2. Team comes First
Classically ruthless leaders keep their self-governed rulebook in front of them all the time. Internal customers (employees) trail well behind in this model. They don’t believe in and buy in inside-out processes. These old guards have very little patience for the “softer” side of the business. The new age ruthless leader believes that no one prospers unless he has the right people in place at the right time for the right job.
Aggressive growth only comes into being when the business leaders think the same way about innovation, collaboration, priorities and the external forces that affect their businesses. Today’s leaders believe in their people and encourage them to upgrade their skillset and want to share their authority and delegate critical initiatives with their capable team members.
3. Growth Focus
Ruthless Focus doesn’t mean single-mindedness. It means doing the rigorous strategic work and setting the right priorities for the organisational operations. When focusing large growth, leaders must not forget the innovation and continuous learning aspects of the business, without which the organisational goals just cannot be achieved in this competitive age.
Besides, leaders must understand that they have to be aware of the fact as what is happening around the world relating to their specific industry and changes taking place in general i.e., think globally and act locally. Here comes the innovation and learning part which brings timely directional changes in an organisation.
4. Flexibility to Transform
When a leader’s first instinct is to resist change, beware. He/she won’t compete successfully for long and won’t be able to transform anything. Neither will he/she attract and keep the best talent nor excite future leadership pipeline. Leaders who are genuinely and ruthlessly flexible are more able to drive innovation and do what competitors can’t. They value adaptability — a new competative advantage. Entrenched businesses often wait until they’re on the brink to admit how much has really changed.
Ruthless flexibility demands that one does not get stuck in his/her own story and laurels of the past. Leaders set the tone for everyone around them. Innovative strategies, powerful cultures and aggressive results start with the leaders’ behaviours — people need to see and hear their commitment to integrity, teamwork, focus, flexibility and above all sharing information which is our final takeaway.
5. Information Sharing
Some old-fashioned leaders, even in this age, maintain authority by keeping information away from their teams even when company is a listed one (where company’s key financial info is a public property). In an increasingly competitive business environment, leaders must develop capabilities that provide sustainable competitive advantage. Ruthless Information sharing (of course with an informed decision-making process ) enables organisations to develop skills and competencies, increase value and sustain their competitive advantage.
Competitive advantage for an organization is the capability of teams to produce superior results based on information that is embedded in the interactions among team members. Information sharing in teams leads to enhanced performance. By engaging in this process, teams create a new unique knowledge resource that competitors cannot easily imitate. Information sharing leads to superior team performance and is a source of competitive advantage for organisations.
Wrap Up
When success requires speed, innovation, collaboration and a culture that motivates everyone, the old ruthless won’t work. The challenge for today’s leaders is clear across industries. As the demands of business change, companies are redefining their focus areas and strategies. The leadership that practices a new ruthless, they build dynamic companies; they are passionate about transformation and insist that their companies be relentlessly open to change.
A shared belief is that a ruthless leader invests in people, sees and recognises their hard work. Rather than delivering a boring written speech at the Annual Employee Event saying how well he/she care for employees, ruthless leader talks to them. He/she ditches the corporate culture jargon and discusses matters other than business. It’s people who advance the businesses, not the sales numbers alone.
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.
