The role of a leader of a 21st century workforce

The Leadership Dilemma

The idea of leadership has always drawn people’s attention. What makes someone a good leader? Have we reached a position where old-fashioned hierarchies don’t apply, and if so, how can a leader adapt to the same?

Raj Nayak, the then COO of Viacom18 and founder of House of Cheer, was the best person to spearhead the panel on leadership during 2018’s edition of Knowledge Factory. Raj and Madhavan Narayanan (editor and consultant) discuss how ideas about leadership have changed, and what it means to be a good leader in the current environment.

Raj vehemently denies that leadership is an outmoded concept. Instead, he talks about how the perception of leaders should go beyond mere titles, and extend to being first among equals. The first role of a leader should be to remove barriers, and create an environment of trust. Based on his own personal experiences, he showcases how a workplace can be successful when the employees trust their leaders, and when the leaders build a team they can trust as well. 

Now, more than ever, leadership is not about titles. “Leadership doesn’t come with titles or designations, it doesn’t even come with experience”, claims Raj. He points out that even in a group of friends, somebody always emerges as the leader, as the person who makes the decisions whether or not they have been assigned that task. The idea that leadership is a virtue, not a position, is especially crucial in today’s world, where millennials form a majority of the workforce. The amount of exposure that millennials have is very high, and their motivations & goals from work are different compared to their predecessors: where satisfaction with work, recognition and being a part of the decision making process is of paramount importance. 

In such a situation, a leader has to focus on their leadership philosophy, reputation, and perception just as much as they do on getting the desired outcomes. Find out about how Raj deals with dilemmas such as building a new team, firing workers, and improving his team’s performances by watching the video here.