Page 58 - Trends

Leadership

Leaders need to be profoundly self-aware and continuously grasp WKH\ UHPDLQ ÁH[LEOH SURGXFH UHPDUNDEOH
outcomes at particular altitudes. Con-
quickly what they need to do to develop themselves in any condition. sider 50,000-foot thinkers such as Elon
Musk, Jack Ma or Steve Jobs. At the 50-
FDOO ´SDQRUDPD YLVLRQµ &RQFUHWH DFWLRQ creative, learning, emotional, pragmat- foot level, a leader such as Larry Bossi-
happens at 50 feet, the tactical level close ic, process, customer, community and dy (former CEO of Honeywell) brought
to the ground. At this altitude, thinking en- self — WR EHFRPH ´LQVLJKWIXOO\ DZDUHµ implementation into absolute focus. But
compasses granular short-term goals and from multiple perspectives. in his book Execution, co-authored with
the crucial steps of planning, implementa- Ram Charan, Bossidy also described
tion and execution. This is also the space Altitudes in the real world how day-to-day agility and acumen con-
where leaders interact with their networks, There are many leaders who capably nect to the big picture and how to grow
inside and outside their organization. connect all three altitudes. Notable ex- individuals and teams. Similarly, Face-
Last but not least is the ability to think amples are Warren Buffett at Berkshire book COO Sheryl Sandberg, a model of
DW ÀYH IHHW WKH OHYHO RI WKH VHOI /HDGHUV Hathaway, or Gail Kelly, the former CEO highly self-aware leadership, continually
need to be profoundly self-aware and of Westpac Bank in Australia. Both eas- shows how operations interlock with vi-
grasp what they need to do to develop ily link big-strategy choices with day- sion and why diversity matters.
themselves. From this personal level, to-day execution, while maintaining a Other leaders can leave a strong mark
they can move to the tactical level of 50 healthy sense of self-awareness. It’s not DW ÀYH IHHW WRR )RU H[DPSOH &KDGH
feet and then soar to the big-picture al- just modern leaders, either. Consider Meng Tan, one of Google’s earliest
titude of 50,000 feet. I argue that lead- Marie Curie, who imagined the possibil- engineers, created the “Search Inside
ers using all of the altitudes are able to ities of radiation and then led concrete <RXUVHOIµ FRXUVH RQ HPRWLRQDO LQWHOOL
combine complex and sometimes con- experiments for years, displaying per- gence and mindfulness in 2006-7. The
tradictory mindsets — global, strategic, sonal resilience, persistence and cour- course eventually grew into a leadership
tactical, value-creating, intellectual, age. There are also leaders who, though institute. Through INSEAD’s Advanced

58 TRENDS | February 2018