The Sunday Mail
Women & Leadership
Maggie Mzumara
Never mind the uneven playing field which we discuss at length in this column, some leaders can be plain poor.
Beyond bias, discrimination and stereotypes, some bosses are just not up to scratch and the incompetence can be overwhelming.
We have got to face it, if the leadership is incompetent, it is just that.
This cuts across both genders. Contrary to what some people may think, no gender has a monopoly on incompetence.
Incompetent leadership can come in all shapes and sizes (and genders).
It can manifest through a number of dimensions. These include a lack of general leadership traits, indecisiveness, repeated poor judgments, abusive behaviour and lack of technical expertise.
Inability to give feedback, failure to manage talent and potential of subordinates, as well as inability to evaluate performance are other traits of incompetent leadership.
A competent leader has vision and can motivate subordinates. She/he can also clearly outline the mission of the group, team, company or organisation.
When a leader fails to articulate what the goal, vision and mission of the group is, then that leadership lacks considerably. The same when she/he fails to mobilise and rally followers around the objectives of their mission.
A competent leader would do well to beef up in these areas and demonstrate the much-needed leadership.
Dilly-dallying or dithering on matters and failing to crisply decide is a sign of weakness on the part of the leader. Once in a while a leader can make a poor judgment or two, but this should not be habitual.
If capacity is lacking in the areas of decision-making and making sound judgments there is compelling need for capacity to be built.
There are models and templates that can be used for decision-making and a leader needing to improve on this will do well to seek these out, learn and apply them. It is possible to improve.
Abusive behaviour in leaders can also make for poor leadership.
Abusive behaviour includes bullying where they abuse their powers to disabuse their subordinates of any of their own power or rights.
Some dress down their subordinates, yell at them, speak disrespectfully, cuss them out and undermine them — this can be quite detrimental.
There is also sexual harassment which entails making unwanted advances of a sexual nature or attention. The list of types of abuses is as long as it is real.
Being abusive as a leader dents your overall competence.
A competent leader does not find it necessary to abuse. The fact that a leader resorts to abuse says more about her or him than it does about the subordinates at the receiving end of such abuse.
It is critical that a leader has the technical competence of the job they are employed to do, in particular and generally the know-how of the core business of the organisation.
While a leader may not be expected to be a specialist in all key tasks, she/he should have working knowledge of the core functions.
A healthy level of the appreciation of major functions key to the organisation is necessary if the leader is to guide the operations of their organisation.
Where organisations are specialists in specific trades, for instance, engineering, having a fellow engineer at the helm helps because they know the nuts and bolts of the business.
Having someone not competent in the field or trade of focus can compromise the direction, operations, productivity and output of an organisation. Great technical skills go a long way in lending credibility to the leader in question.
A competent leader should be able to give feedback to subordinates as well as be able to evaluate their performance. This speaks to the coaching aspects of a leader.
As a coach one should be leading, guiding, teaching and instructing subordinates or followers.
A competent leader should be able to proffer advice, direction, motivate, teach and above all develop and enhance to best advantage the skillsets and potential of their team or flock.
Generally speaking, where there is poor leadership, there is also employee mismanagement. Mismanagement of employees can result in low morale, decreased productivity which, of course, means low output.
Emotional intelligence is a big plus in the toolbox and skillset of a competent leader.
While intellectual intelligence and technical know-how are great to have, emotional intelligence raises the competence scale of a leader to a whole new level, which is critical.
Emotional intelligence makes the difference in whether or not a leader knows how to manage their emotions and those of others.
A competent leader knows the effect of her/his emotions on others and is well able to regulate accordingly for best advantage.
While intellectual intelligence, which is often demonstrable via academic leanings, is the IQ (intelligence quotient), emotional intelligence is referred to as EQ (emotional quotient).
EQ needs to be cultivated and the capacity, where it is missing or below expected levels, upped considerably for one to be considered a competent leader.
There are several other indicators of competent leadership, but the above make up the bulk of them.
◆ Maggie Mzumara is a leadership, communication and media strategist as well as corporate trainer. She advocates women leadership and is founder of Success in Stilettos (SiS) Seminar Series, a leadership development platform for women. Contact her on [email protected] or Twitter @magsmzumara.
