Chapter Twenty One

Soft Leadership is the Heart of Leadership

When you look at leaders like Booker T. Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama and Aung San Sui Kyi, you see one common thread connecting all of them—soft leadership. They are all soft leaders who performed silently, and led people to accomplish their dreams.

What is Soft Leadership?

Soft leadership is the new leadership style coined by this author. It is based on the right mindset, skill set and toolset. Globalization, liberalization, privatization and the rapid growth of technology have redefined the concept of leadership and the role of leaders, resulting in a need for a new and specialized set of skills that can be called soft leadership.

Soft leadership does not mean submissiveness or being soft physically, but being assertive, where these leaders protect their rights without violating those of others. Rather than being a lame duck leadership, it portrays assertive leadership and goes much beyond it.

Soft leadership touches on caring about people, connecting with people and communicating with people to accomplish the desired goals and objectives. These leaders are basically people-oriented rather than task-oriented. They empathize with others and look at issues from a human perspective. They have compassion towards others. Although getting tasks done is the ultimate motive of any leader, soft leaders present and project a human perspective to get things executed assertively, smoothly and successfully.

Soft leadership encourages persuasion, not force. It is the process of setting goals, influencing people through persuasion, building strong teams, constantly motivating them, and aligning their energies and efforts in tune with desired objectives. Soft leaders set an example and are with their people right from the beginning to the end.

Soft leadership is all about influencing behaviour and attitudes for the collective good of the people. It also includes trust, empathy, compassion and effective communication. It involves leadership related to people skills, interpersonal and communication skills. It can also be defined as the skills and abilities related to personality, attitude and behaviour, as that helps in influencing people while leading them.

Soft Leadership and its Proximity to Other Styles

Soft leadership is basically people-oriented, principle-centred and relationship-oriented leadership. This style emphasizes the transformation of people more than the transaction of tasks. It believes in bringing out changes among people and making a difference in their lives. It falls within the behavioural theory of leadership. This style is proximate to the democratic, charismatic, transformational, authentic, spiritual and servant leadership style.

Daniel Goleman and Soft Leadership

Daniel Goleman describes six leadership styles, such as coaching leaders, pacesetting leaders, democratic leaders, affiliative leaders, authoritative leaders and coercive leaders. He reveals that the leaders who master four or more of these leadership styles, especially the democratic, authoritative, affiliative and coaching styles, can provide a healthy workplace ambience, thus extracting an amazing performance from their group members.

Soft Leadership and the Blake-Mouton Grid

The Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid describes a concern for people and a concern for production. It explains the task-orientation vis-à-vis people-orientation of leaders, and presents five different leadership styles—impoverished style, country-club style, team style, produce or perish style, and middle of the road style. Based on this Grid, soft leadership is more of a concern for people and less of a concern for production. Only when you care for people will they be able to produce the desired results. These days, companies focus on the slogan: ‘employee first and customer second’. Soft leadership emphasizes concern for people, that is, for employees, who are the precious human resources. Only when employees are cared for and nurtured will they be able to work well and satisfy the needs of their clients. Hence, soft leadership is the need of the hour to provide a soft touch to people, who in turn will provide a real touch to customers through dedication and discipline.

Soft Leadership vs. Hard Leadership

• Soft leadership emphasizes character, charisma, compassion, communication, courage, empathy, persuasion and setting a personal example. Hard leadership, on the other hand, focuses on fear, threats and negative motivation. Soft leadership touches on people orientation, while hard leadership focuses on task orientation.
• Soft leaders possess more of a transformational style rather than a transactional style of leadership, as transformational leaders are people-oriented while transactional leaders are task-oriented. As is quite obvious, hard leaders possess more of a transactional than a transformational style.
• Soft leadership involves the usage of both integrative and participatory styles, while hard leadership involves the carrot and stick policy.
• Soft leadership blends both soft and hard skills, but leans more towards soft skills. Its emphasis lies more on the behavioural attitudes and aspects of the followers and the people.

Given the choice between soft and hard leadership, it is definitely soft leadership that matters at the end. To state it further, soft leadership will stand the test of time in the years to come, more than hard leadership, which is fading away gradually.

General Electric’s Jack Welch demonstrated more of hard leadership during his tenure and put GE on the global business map. In contrast, the current incumbent Jeff Immelt represents soft leadership, and believes in walking the talk through cool composure, empathy, compassion and communication. His leadership style symbolizes consensus, team building, attentive listening, creativity, and being calm and cool under pressure. Similarly, former CEO of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs, represented hard leadership, while the current incumbent Timothy Cook demonstrates soft leadership.

If the end of the twentieth century belonged to emotional intelligence, then the twenty-first century belongs to soft leadership where leaders have to demonstrate pleasing and polite behaviour, and a matching attitude and personality to get the tasks executed by their partners. The twenty-first century also welcomes partnership, replacing traditional leadership with its followership attitude.

Soft leadership is the solution to several business challenges. You cannot be hard all the time and get the desired results. What works out at the end is only soft leadership. Mahatma Gandhi, a weak and frail man, brought down the mighty British Empire through his soft leadership. Martin Luther King, civil rights leader, championed equal rights for Black Americans in the USA through his soft leadership.

Unlike the Stone Age, which demanded hard and harsh leadership, the space age demands soft leadership, which can touch people’s hearts softly and get things executed smoothly. The days of command and control don’t work any more in the modern world. What currently works are counselling, mentoring, collaboration and partnering.

Characteristics

Eleven characteristics distinguish soft leaders from others. They are: character, charisma, conscience, conviction, courage, communication, compassion, commitment, consistency, consideration and contribution.

1. Character: The collapse of companies like Enron, Lehman Brothers and World Com reminds the world about leaders who lack character at their cores. Character is a key component of soft leaders. It is through their strong character that they lead their people. People look at leaders with impeccable integrity, who can walk the talk. As a leader, you are always under the scanner. You need to set the right example through impeccable character in order to grow as a leader. You learn the character of people when they lose. Martin Luther King Jr. rightly said, ‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.’ Character is the key that differentiates good leaders from others. In fact, good character is what makes a person a great leader. What counts at the end of the day or at the end of your life is who you are, not what you have.
2. Charisma: Charisma is the second characteristic of soft leaders. Charisma helps in connecting with others easily, as it makes people feel valued and respected. For instance, the soldiers of Alexander followed him blindly because of his charismatic leadership. Soldiers also marched towards victory during World War II under the charismatic leadership of Winston Churchill. The Americans were influenced by the charismatic leadership of John F. Kennedy, who sounded a clarion call: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.’ There are various components of charisma, such as warmth, smile, grace, body language, voice, confidence. Charisma needs substance rather than style. Have the knowledge and the content to speak and connect with others. Charismatic leaders are known for walking the talk. So is the case with soft leaders, who go to any extent to serve their followers.
3. Conscience: Conscience is the third key characteristic of soft leaders and makes them stand out. People expect leaders to be ethical and responsible. They also look up to leaders whose consciences are clear. Leaders must have a clear conscience to lend themselves conviction, so that they can then persuade others. If there is a chasm between word and deed, the conscience will remind us of it. Mahatma Gandhi was always clear where his conscience was concerned. He openly admitted to the mistakes he had made in his life in his autobiography. Every person makes mistakes, but very few openly admit to the same. In fact, it requires a lot of courage to reveal one’s wrong doings. Several leaders have resigned from their high positions because of the call of their conscience. Hence, conscience is powerful. One has to convince his conscience first in order to convince others. Aung San Suu Kyi underwent several trials and tribulations at the hands of military rulers during her house arrest as her conscience would not allow her to leave her country. Several problems and evils in society are the result of people compromising with their conscience. People may cheat others, but not their conscience. One’s conscience is always clear and powerful.
4. Conviction: Walter Lippmann rightly said, ‘The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on.’ Conviction is the fourth most powerful characteristic of soft leaders. It is their convictions that take soft leaders forward and make their people move ahead. There are leaders who died for the sake of their people because of their convictions. They rarely compromised and stood steady like a rock, despite the stiff opposition and challenges and threats to their lives. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama and Aung San Sui Kyi are symbols of sacrifice and conviction. It is hard to imagine leadership without a firm belief in one’s convictions. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. firmly believed in his convictions. He did not appreciate the inequality between Blacks and Whites. He sacrificed his life to the cause of the civil rights movement, and finally became a martyr. People followed him because of his convictions.
5. Courage: Courage is another key characteristic of soft leaders. According to Aristotle, courage is the first virtue, because it makes all other virtues possible. Courage is about standing by your values and morals and principles and policies despite being pressurized by others, and in spite of the threats you might receive . People often believe that courage as a characteristic is confined to military personnel alone. This is not true. Courage is essential for everyone. Only when leaders are courageous will they be able to build confidence in others to follow them. A few leaders have proved globally that it is not size, but strength that counts. David vs. Goliath is an amazing example, where tiny David took on the mighty Goliath successfully. When we take the example of Yugoslavian leader Marshal Tito, we see that he broke the back of the Soviet empire. Leaders like Lee Kuan Yew turned Singapore from nothing to the number one prosperous country, despite a dearth of natural resources. These leaders made a difference to this world through their courageous and visionary leadership. What counts at the end of life is neither muscle power nor money power, but your will power. Leadership is not for the faint-hearted, but for the brave-hearted.
6. Communication: Soft leaders are great communicators. These leaders are quick to learn the pulse of others, and mould their leadership style accordingly to meet the latter’s needs, expectations and aspirations. It is through communication that leaders express their ideas, ideals and insights, and persuade others to follow them. Hence, there is a strong connection between soft leadership and communication. Leadership is about handling people to accomplish goals. While handling people, communication becomes the core component through which leaders connect with others. As leadership styles have to be different in order to touch different people with different emotions, needs, egos and feelings, there are various communication styles in use, such as aggressive communication, submissive communication, assertive-aggressive communication and assertive communication. Leaders ideally need to adopt the assertive communication style, and use the other styles from time to time to make their leadership effective. Due to the key role of communication in leading others, we can substantiate that communication is the sister of leadership.
7. Compassion: When we look at soft leaders such as Lord Jesus and Buddha, we find them to be filled with compassion. They changed the face of the world through their compassion. Another soft leader, Mother Teresa, helped lepers and the poor through her selfless service. She made a lot of difference in the lives of the poor and the downtrodden in India. Compassion helps in connecting with others easily. People appreciate leaders who care for them and touch their lives. Through compassion, soft leaders maximize the potential of their people and organizations.
8. Commitment: Soft leaders have another great characteristic—commitment—which allows them to command respect from others. It is their firm commitment towards their causes that wins them acclaim. If you want your life to be successful, you have to be committed. For instance, in your love for your family, you need to be firm in demonstrating your commitment. Commitment might be time-consuming, but it builds longevity in relations. This is true not only in your family life, but also in the workplace; if you as a leader demonstrate your commitment, people will trust and treat you with the utmost respect. It is rightly said that people do not care how big you are. They only care how committed you are. We find several families breaking down due to a dearth of commitment. We also find teams collapsing at the workplace due to a lack of commitment. Commitment is the bridge between word and deed. A firm commitment towards your word and your work makes you a successful soft leader. Peter F. Drucker says, ‘Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.’
9. Consistency: Consistency is another important ingredient in soft leadership. Leaders need to demonstrate their consistency so as to have a profound impact on their people. People expect leaders to be predictable, responsible and credible. Failure to demonstrate consistency might lead to a credibility crisis. Benjamin Disraeli rightly remarked, ‘A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance.’ Consistency is essential in every area of life, and helps in leadership branding and memory recall. When we talk of Situational leadership, we recall Ken Blanchard; when we talk of Servant leadership, we recall Robert Greenleaf; when we talk of Emotional Intelligence, we recall Daniel Goleman; and when we talk of Principle-Centred leadership, we recall Stephen R. Covey. These leaders have excelled and branded themselves in their areas of specialization through consistent contributions and leadership.
10. Consideration: Consideration includes recognizing the good work done by others and appreciating them promptly and liberally. This is the trait of leaders with a people-orientation, rather than task-orientation. The transactional leaders are fundamentally task-oriented, while transformational and soft leaders are people-oriented, and have big hearts with which they care for and consider others. As Confucius observed, ‘Consideration for others is the basic of a good life, a good society.’ Consideration is directly linked to interpersonal relations. Leadership means handling people, and to handle people, one needs interpersonal skills. Hence, consideration plays a crucial role in soft leadership.
11. Contribution: We are what we are today because of the contribution made by great leaders. Mother Teresa said, ‘…[W]hat we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.’ Individual contributions, though, can be in small portions. People often think that the contribution has to be a major one. In fact, a small effort is better than no effort. Several small contributions make a large difference to society. It is rightly said, ‘All the whining and complaining in the world is not going to make a difference to the world. It will only drain you of your precious energy from doing things that do make a difference.’ Hence, contribute your best little by little, consistently, and you will be amazed at the difference you make to the society over a period of time.

Here is a diagram (Fig. 21.1) connecting the 11 Cs that collectively constitute soft leadership.

Figure 21.1 Connecting the 11 Cs

Soft leaders are a blend of the 11 Cs, and each C is associated with a specific leader. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi is associated with character, Mikhail Gorbachev with charisma, Martin Luther King Jr. with conscience, Aung San Sui Kyi with conviction, Alexander the Great with courage, Winston Churchill with communication, Mother Teresa with compassion, Nelson Mandela with commitment, John Wesley with consistency, the Dalai Lama with consideration, and Booker T. Washington with contribution. Hence, we need soft leaders who blend the qualities of all these leaders to take on the future global challenges.

Dave Ulrich’s Interpretation of the 11 Cs

Dave Ulrich, Partner of The RBL Group, has interpreted the 11 Cs by mapping them on to a leadership code as follows:

Dave Ulrich’s Leadership Code

Strategists

Strategists answer the question ‘where are we going?’ and make sure that those around them understand the direction as well. They do not only envision, but can also create a future. They figure out where the organization needs to go in order to succeed, test these ideas pragmatically against current resources (money, people, organizational capabilities), and work with others to figure out how to get from the present to the desired future. Strategists have a point of view about the future, and are able to position their organization to create and respond to that future.

Executors

The Executor dimension of the leadership code focuses on the question, ‘How will we make sure we get to where we are going?’ Executors translate strategy into action, bring about changes, assign accountability, know which key decisions to take and which to delegate, and make sure that teams work well together. They keep their promises to multiple stakeholders. The rules for executors revolve around disciplines for getting things done and the technical expertise to get the right things done right.

Talent Managers

Leaders who optimize talent today answer the question, ‘Who goes with us on our business journey?’ Talent managers know how to identify, build and engage talent to get the results now. Talent managers identify the skills that are required, draw talent into their organizations, engage them, communicate extensively, and ensure that employees turn in their best efforts. Talent managers generate intense personal, professional and organizational loyalty. The rules for talent managers centre around resolutions that help people to develop themselves for the good of the organization.

Human Capital Developers

Leaders who are Human Capital Developers answer the question, ‘Who stays and sustains the organization for the next generation?’ Talent Managers ensure short-term results through people, while Human Capital Developers ensure that the organization has the long-term competencies required for future strategic success. Just as good parents invest in helping their children succeed, human capital developers help future leaders to be successful. Human Capital Developers throughout the organization build a workforce plan focused on future talent, understand how to develop that future talent, and help employees to see their future careers within the company. They ensure that the organization will outlive any single individual. Human Capital Developers install rules that demonstrate a pledge to build the next generation of talent.

However, at the heart of great leadership is what we call personal proficiency. Effective leaders cannot be reduced to what they know and do. Who they are as human beings has everything to do with how much they can accomplish with and through other people. Leaders are learners: they learn from success, failure, assignments, books, classes, people, and life itself. Passionate about their beliefs and interests, they expend enormous personal energy and attention on whatever matters to them. Effective leaders inspire loyalty and goodwill in others because they themselves act with integrity and trust. Decisive and impassioned, they are capable of bold and courageous moves. Confident in their ability to deal with situations as they arise, they can tolerate ambiguity.

According to Dave Ulrich, all the 11 Cs map onto the personal proficiency dimension. He further adds, ‘By summarizing psychological literature around personality, attitude, perceptions, and emotional intelligence’, the conceptual underpinnings of leaders who demonstrate personal proficiency, or soft leadership is laid out.

Soft Leadership—The Heart of Leadership

Leaders spend three-fourths of their working day with people. Hence, they need to care for the needs and concerns of the people to establish credibility and influence them.

We have seen enough leadership styles, from the autocratic to the democratic. It is time to set ourselves free from outdated leadership styles and adopt a new leadership style—soft leadership. In this new millennium, we need a new leadership style that blends all the Cs, that is, character, charisma, conscience, conviction, courage, communication, compassion, commitment, consistency, consideration and contribution. Hence, let us explore soft leadership in order to take mankind to greater heights of glory. Let us hand over better things to our next generation so that they can be proud of us.

Acknowledgment

The author thanks Dave Ulrich, The RBL Group, for creating a leadership code for the book Soft Leadership—Make Others Feel More Important.