misleaders are brought down by their own people . But some survive all coups and rule longer . They destroy the organization from within making it difficult for their successors to recover . Flamboyant Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya was projected as a top leader for over 3 decades . His real face was seen when he fled to the UK to evade repaying millions in debt . That was the creation of his own misleading . Thousands of employees and other stakeholders suffered great loss of money and career opportunities due to this misleader . Misleaders are heroes of the present but villains in history .
Why are misleaders born ? Exposed , uncovered food attracts flies . Similarly , a rotten organizational culture attracts misleaders and nourishes them . Misleaders have heritage . They follow other misleaders and are succeeded by misleaders too . The real problems are mediocrity , nepotism , insecure feelings , and greed for power without acquiring competencies .
Unlimited power , centralization , and too much discretionary powers vested in leadership becomes a breeding ground for misleaders . Letting the double standards prevail in the organization also helps the misleaders . They go scot-free while others are scanned thoroughly . The dean of the B-School refused to mark biometric attendance while making it mandatory for even senior professors . This created discontentment among the academic team and many talented professors left the school .
Good leaders become misleaders post superannuation because their parameters to lead change . Giving abnormal service extensions to retired employees also helps the misleaders . They see talent and experience as a threat and try to undermine it . They promote sycophancy and spoil the organization culture . Some leaders want to lead for life . They don ' t want to give up power even in the mideighties . Such leaders get transformed as the misleaders and become susceptible to coup .
A coup against a misleader brings another misleader . Staging a coup requires different skill sets than leading the organization . The rebellions may not be good leaders . They have the power to instigate people against the establishment led by the current misleader but they can ' t drive the organization as leaders . People of England
revered Churchill as a wartime supreme leader and hero but during the post-war elections his caretaker government was heavily defeated : the Labor Party under Attlee ' s leadership won a landslide victory , gaining a majority of 145 seats . This was the first election in which Labor gained a majority of seats , and also the first time it won a plurality of votes .
Transforming mediocratic culture to merit based , bringing in accountability , openness and transparency is the way to fumigate the organization against misleaders .
How to avert misleaders ? Only a coup can de-throne misleaders hence it is important to avert the misleaders and ensure that they don ' t snatch the crown and grab the power . It can be done by laying down foolproof checks and balances , and narrowing scope for discretions . These days ’ companies are appointing talent managers and initiating talent management programs to groom leaders . I strongly support this initiative . My own daughter is the beneficiary of such a talent management program in Tatas . I am seeing the transformation she is going through after getting selected as an ' Emerging leader ' after a rigorous process of selection . Tatas are real talent groomers and have given many great corporate leaders to India .
Blocking the emergence of misleaders requires proper and professional policies , systems , and processes . Maintaining open , transparent and talent biased culture . In the absence of these things , the organization becomes a breeding ground for misleaders .
Hitler , Stalin , Kims , Gaddafi , Fidel Castro were the right examples of misleaders who prevailed as leaders . Kims of North Korea never came down . They kept their focus on economic stability and prosperity so that their people would trade this off with their personal freedoms .
Nobody in the world , including Hitler , killed people like Mao . Most of those were his own people . In the great Chinese famine of the 1970s , millions of people died . Estimates show that about 36 to 45 million poor Chinese died during the famine . Most deaths were caused by starvation , but the figure also includes killing during ideological campaigns . Twenty million people died in this cultural-revolution . It was the curse and the darkest spot in the modern Chinese history . Many great Chinese leaders like Deng Xiaoping and even the President Xi Jinping were victims .
Prof . Dr . Ajit Patil was awarded ' Top Voice on LinkedIn - 2017 '. He is a Management Writer ; Marketing , Business Development & Retailing Consultant . He conducts Management Development Programmes ; trains & coaches Sales & Marketing teams . He has been teaching MBA students in India & overseas for over 20 years . He can be reached at : ajitpatilmumbai @ yahoo . co . in .