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The Ability To Solve The Problems
The ability to solve problems is the highest quality which any leader looks for in any talent in an organisation. Similarly the ability to solve the future growth and progress problems of the organization is the biggest attribute to look for in any leadership.
The underlying theme is that talents must solve problems and leadership must nurture such talents.
If a talent cannot solve problems it is no usable talent at all. The same goes for any leadership also. It must solve problems or else it is just an ornamental organizational status and rank.
We need to understand this aspect of leadership very clearly. Basically the leadership boils down to almost two things :
- Getting the problems solved through his or her own domain & leadership skills
- Getting it solved through the upcoming leadership which has been nurtured over the years
The bottomline is that a leader must get the problems solved within the time and space relevant to the organization.
The Two Categories
In my policing career I have seen mostly two broad categories of supposed talents ... those who can solve problems and those who cannot.
This is as simple as it can be. I am afraid this organizational situation is almost the same everywhere.
Those who are having problem solving attitudes are mostly silent people. They do not go about vociferously claiming their expertise nor are they very visible and vocal during the meetings.
Silence Is Not Always Golden
I read somewhere that when your important talents become silent and do not speak up when it is required, it means great impending trouble for the organisation.
Silence is golden but not when speaking up is the answer. The right people must speak up at the right time and the responsibility for it lies on the organizational leadership.
One of the great signs of the “Problem Solving Talent” is that they mostly speak when it is actually required to speak and the when the situation demands it. Mostly they remain silent and are great listeners and observers.
But on some occasions the “Problem Solving Talent” does not open up if the situation is not helpful and conducive. It is here that organizational leadership matters. The leadership must facilitate and ensure that their “Problem Solving Talents” speak up in crucial meetings. This is more the test of an organizational leadership than the talents as far as my opinion goes.
Identify The Negative
But there are also great visible signs of those supposed talents who do not solve problems. They will first try to convince everyone as to why a certain problem cannot be solved and even if it is solved it is too difficult and tedious a process. In a way such people try to tell you that it is not worth solving the problem.
They are basically opposite of the problem solving brigade. They are loud and dominating characters in almost all the meetings. They have advice for almost everything even if it is beyond their professional domains.
The leadership of an organization can identify these two broad categories of talents by simply observing them in any meetings. The silence of successful leaders is basically an observing mechanism to identify the various talents within their organisations.
Never underestimate the silence of people, especially leaders, during any meeting. As a leader we must observe more during meetings and try to identify those who can solve problems. We can give more attention to the problem solvers.
The leaders must motivate silent members to speak. Perhaps in their speaking up lies solutions to our many organizational problems.
