Globalisation, speed of innovations, changing consumer preferences and the unprecedented turn of events in the world’s economic and political order are emerging as key challenges for business leaders and chief executive officers of corporate organisations. As a result, in the current era of constant dynamism there is so much focus on the role of a leader. According to a white paper titled “Leadership in Action” by KPMG, a leader has to evolve to play multiple roles and this is becoming increasingly significant and critical for an organisation’s growth and for its relevance.

Leadership styles and approaches have seen a steady transition in their applica­bility corresponding to the ne­ed and requirement of different business eras. If the 20th century organisations were more bureaucratic, multi-levelled and inwardly focused, according to the pa­per, the 21st century organisations are more non-bureaucratic, limited levelled and outwardly focused.

Commenting on the reasons to prepare this white paper Ganesh Shermon, executive director and head of people & change advisory management consulting, KPMG India, said, “It is possible to mix conceptual and theoretical assumptions on leadership with that of practicing managers and the way in which leaders have evo­lved over a period of time.”

According to the paper, the critical categories of leadership in action are: First, consistency of history, which is how a leader managed his enterprise over a period of time. Second, the company’s propensity to make learning for leadership happens in a concrete and substantive manner. Third, a tracking mechani­sm needs to be in place for identifying and nu­rturing leaders. Fourth, institutionalising the tracking mechanism in an organisat­ional co­ntext. And finally, the commercial viability of leaders, which are the decisi­ons of leaders leading to outcomes that create commercial and stakeholder value.

The paper identifies so­me of the modern theories that attempt to capture the multiple dimensions of leadership in the current business con­text include transfor-matio­nal leadership, servant lea­de­rship, Level-5 lea­dership and dispersed leadership.

In the current context, “change leadership” is increasingly supplementing the concept of “change management”. “While change management focuses on bri­nging the change effort un­der control, change leaders­hip is more visionary in nat­ure and creates a fundamental traction for change,” according to the report.

In the years ahead, talent shortage will continue to necessitate more rapid acceleration of young executives up the corporate ladder. “To make such a programme su­ccessful, many high-level executives may need to improve their ability to judge the current performance and future potential of employees,” says the paper.

According to the paper, the dominant leadership sty­le in the 21st century will be more participative, interpretive, encouraging connectedness and appealing to higher purpose. While the organisation facets will be more decentralisation, free flow of information, innovation centric and outwardly focused.

Execution orientation, self discipline, pro-action, achievement orientation, developing self and others, awareness orientation, people development, influencing stakeholders, strategic orientation, change leadership and people development are some of the key competencies that a leader of 21st century should have.

“Employees need to transition various leadership levels by demonstrating appropriate leadership competencies at each level. Organisation, at its end, needs to institutionalise an effective leadership development process and harmonise the same with other people policies. Finally, a congenial organisational culture is required to help thrive leadership all multiple levels within the organisation,” said the paper.

The paper also delves de­eply into the way people in organisations have started demonstrating negative pow­er behaviour leading the co­mpany into the brink of leadership crises “Experiencing and using the ‘power maze’, and the struggle over it, des­cribes the essence of the pr­ocess that organisations have been forced to deal with in this meltdown. When emp­loyees in organisations convert their power into action, particularly, power that has been derived through individual networks; they are described as being engaged in politics.” The paper identif­ies five possible bases of po­wer: control of resources, co­ntrol of a technical skill and control of a body of knowledge, legal prerogatives and access to those who have po­wer bases. “While first three are critical to the organisati­on, fourth is about giving exclusive rights and privileges to be able to impose choices.

Judhajit Das, chief of hu­man resource at ICICI Pud­ential Life Insurance, said leadership is a dynamic and powerful interplay of cognitive and emotive processes. “It can stem from the power of an idea whose time has come or by the sheer force of personality than an individual brings to bear by committing thought to action.”

Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, wh­ile releasing paper during the CII-organised HR summit in Mumbai on Friday said, “Good leaders should not be typified as ‘growth leaders’ or ‘change leaders’, but rather they be dynamic in tune with organisational needs.”