When there is lack of correct leadership in institutions and if the leader of an institution is incapable to handle the ‘truth’ as a result of not seeing or not knowing, it will lead to a vacuum being created in the institution.
University of Moratuwa, Senior Lecturer Dr. Pujitha Silva made these remarks at a workshop conducted under the theme “The Leadership Vacuum filling the void.” The event was conducted in collaboration with Fort Consultancy, Full Life Coaching and Oxford Psychometrics of England . The Forte Consultancy has been operating in Sri Lanka for over 7 years serving many corporate clients such as Dialog, Aitken Spence, HSBC, City Bank, Union Bank, WSO2, Hayley's, MIT. Forte has also worked with the University of Moratuwa, the Candle Aid Sri Lanka and also with the Foundation of Goodness. The workshop addressed the issues faced by leaders in organizations and also employees.
Dr. Pujitha who works in the area of Biomedical Engineering and Leadership Coaching presented his views as how the design and functionality of the human body.He said how the human body is well designed for motion and in the absence of motion forward a leadership vacuum will be created due to the stagnation that follows.
This concept drew attention to the importance for an organization to be constantly on the move in terms of growth and innovation and the importance of developing leaders with the heart factor. A number of personnel from leading organizations who work in the field of HR and Management attended.
Dr. Pujitha said the leadership vacuum is often sidelined in the society and it served as a platform for networking and knowledge sharing among professionals from various organizations to build partnerships .
He said these vacuums have negatively affects and functioning of the entire institution and they create instability and uncertainty with the institution.
Dr. Pujitha listed seven principles of leadership including how the human body is well designed for motion, how lack of holistic health can lead to a lack of performance in the human body , how various organs of the body take leadership in diverse ways, how a fetus growth was condensed to a three stage process such as the rooting stage, the directional stage and partnerships and how the human body tries to communicate its reality in many ways.
He further said number of signs and symptoms that the human body utilizes to convey truths about its level of functioning. He also mentioned how the human posture would vary in relation to the people and the situation and the body's ability to change its posture to adapt to the situation.
Dr. Pujitha also presented the principles of leadership in a practical, light manner, ingrained with practical tips and pointers on how it could be ensured that a leadership vacuum is not created in line with the principles. He said a leader can be rude to an employee for a number of reasons. It could be because an expectation of a leader was not fulfilled by the employee and lack of communication skills on the leader's part.He said most leaders feel they are entitled to be able to scold and discipline employees in a rude manner due to their position over them. This shows the importance of developing attitudes as well as skills. He said poor treatment of employees comes from a lack of appreciation and acknowledgment that employees truly do contribute so much to a team and the organization.
Even the most skilled leader would not be able to do their job if they did not have the right attitudes and mindsets regarding how to work with their teams.
Business Psychologist Rozaine Cooray said during times of crisis they felt the lack of strong leadership to guide people. As we know the presence of a leader is necessary within any group of individuals working towards one goal.Each group has its own needs of security, solidarity, trust, nurturance, achievement and innovation which, when unfulfiled and left unattended for a long period of time, might directly or indirectly impact the performance and effectiveness of the team.
Dr. Chintha Dissanayaka said the task of finding a right person to lead an organization is important as such person is required to provide the vision and direction for others to follow. She said there is evidence that even if a high quality team is led by an ineffective leader, the team/ group cannot succeed.
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