Copyright brecorder
Complexity. Uncertainty. Ambiguity. P&G (Proctor and Gamble) and PMI (Phillip Morris International) leaving the country. Such news are panic fuelers. Companies are rethinking their investments. Companies are trying to re strategize and focus on markets that have some future clarity. The clarity they seek is due to a global shakeup landscape. After nearly a quarter of a century (2000-2025) the world looks anything but settled and predictable. The economists are struggling with defining the curve. Their prediction of the U curve turned into the V curve. They are now struggling with the C curve and pondering over the K curve possibility. Contradictions abound. Artificial intelligence has made the analysts’ jobs easy. Just a minute. Artificial Intelligence has also made the jobs redundant. The machines are going to take over man. These are some examples of a world finding itself totally out of sorts. In this world where companies and countries are going through all sorts of conflicts how to make sense out of nonsense? While the world businesses are going through more of a Z curve, companies in Pakistan are unable to decipher, which curve they are following. Many analysts cynically talk about the flat line on the monitor when the heart stops. While this cynicism may be justified on some counts, it is also an opportunity for leadership to be tested and developed. There is no doubt that when you look at numbers, they paint a sorry picture. There is no doubt that many decades old multinationals packing their bags and quitting does send shivers down the corporate leader’s spine. Whether these shivers will result in more quitters or more warriors depends on whose senses are sensing beyond the obvious. None of the turnaround stories in companies were ever based on going by the ground realities. None of the new innovations are the development of existing conditions. None of the sustainable breakthroughs in times of turbulence are breaks based on some concessions bestowed in the power corridors. Rather, they are breakaways from the traditional, the normal, and the conventional. The question then rises on what makes some companies rise while others go drown a submerging wave? The answer is leadership that is able to see through and beyond the rise and fall. That is known as the 6th sense leadership. Think of blind man. Think of how it is dark in his vision. Think of how he or she uses all his or her senses to develop a 6th sense to see even when they cannot see. That is what the leaders need to develop. Is the blind man born with the 6th sense? No. He or she develops it to navigate through the darkness. Similarly, the leaders need to develop the 6th sense by: Sense #1— see beyond-Blind are those who cannot see. What about those who can see but cannot see per se. What about those who have sight but no vision. Vision is that light that only those who look beyond the immediate, beyond the existing, beyond the trends, beyond the darkness can see. All leaders who have been successful have been those who could see and think differently. The Great Depression after the World War II had ruined the US economy. Walt Disney set up an entertainment company when most analysts said people do not have money for entertainment. He saw beyond the Depression and thought people need some laughter and happiness. That is when the cartoon cinema was born. How do you develop this 6th sense? By being connected to the market. By roaming in people’s lives. By observing their behaviour. Walt Disney saw the misery and envisioned what may bring smiles on their faces. By wondering physically amongst people and wondering mentally within he was able to lead and initiate in a market people had written off. Sense#2— smell the air- The 6th sense of ‘smell the air’ is developed by reading the unspoken. The leader has to be studying the dynamics of markets, of companies, of cultures. He takes deep interest in the vibes of a place or people. He can smell despondency by the way people react and interact. He can smell energy by the way people walk and talk. He can smell deception by the way people hide or reveal information. He can smell a conflict by the way people display passive/aggressive tendencies. This can help the leader get an intuitive sense of what is coming next. Many times the atmosphere in the meeting has tension in the air. Many times the body language of people is speaking louder than words. An astute, attuned leader will anticipate what is likely to come up and devise a strategy to cope with it proactively. Sense#3— Taste the bittersweet-When the leader tastes the same medicine, people will eat the bitter and sweet. The Leader needs to see what is digestible for the team. What is causing aches and pains? When he gets into the empathy mold he becomes the EP not the GP (the emotional practitioner not the general practitioner). One recent example is the AI threat. Microsoft, the giant that it is, was going into a fatigue period. Satya Nadella the CEO felt that uncertainty over AI was killing the employee appetite for growth. That made him reimagine Microsoft by sharing the vision of “AI is a co-pilot, not a replacement.” This was the medicine that reduced the pain of uncertainty and fear and gave Microsoft a new impetus. Sense#4— Touch the untouchable- The 6th sense leader knows that boardroom presentations are not the answer. He or she starts the mystery shopping by meeting people in the lowest ranks to reach out those who are never asked, approached or touched. In Covid, CEO Unilever Amir Paracha reframed their vision from Unilever in Pakistan to Unilever “for” Pakistan. They decided that the lowest level will be the first to be protected. A fair wage (much above the minimum wage) was determined to run their kitchens in the crisis. That resulted in reignited motivation and record revenues for the company. Sense#5— hear the unheard-The main switch these leaders make is to keep their ears open. They go in the silence mode to understand the sounds coming from others: the sounds of customers, the sounds of the spoilers, the sounds of the facilitators. This then becomes a collection of sound bites that creates new pictures in the mind. One of the best examples was Jacinda Ardern, the Prime minister of New Zealand, after the mosque shooting in 2019. She went to the grieving families and just listened with compassion and care. That resulted in creating a bond in the society and helped in creating peace that could have resulted in conflict and violence. To lead is to set a new path that most cannot see. That ability to see before others, touch the souls, hear truly and feel deeply then creates the synergy for the 6th sense leadership. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
