Achieving Leadership Brilliance with Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat

“Everyone is tested by life, but only a few extract strength and wisdom from their most trying experiences. They’re the ones we call leaders.” — Warren G. Bennis & Robert J. Thomas.

Under extreme heat and pressure, carbon atoms form diamonds in the rough deep within the Earth’s mantle. The process takes billions of years. Unlike other stones, diamonds are made up of 100% carbon atoms organized in a crystalline structure, which gives them superior hardness. The structure also gives them brilliance and sparkle not found in other gems.

Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish historian, essayist, and philosopher, said, “No pressure, no diamonds,” about the shaping of character in humans who had undergone tremendous setbacks and came out of them with flying colors, much the same way pressures transformed ordinary material into one most desired.

When mined, diamonds are rough and lack final characteristics. Careful cutting and polishing are required to achieve the final look.

When they start their journey, many leaders are diamonds in the rough. It takes years of experience, learning, and growing to become a diamond adored by their teams. It takes mindfulness and continuous practice.

Just as a brilliant diamond is characterized by 4 C’s — Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat — the industry standard, a leader can stand out because of these 4C’s. Let me tell you how.

1. Cut
   “When you hear words like Brightness, Scintillation and Fire, they describe how masterfully a diamond is cut. A diamond’s cut refers to how it interacts with light.” — Gemological Institute of America. A diamond that has been cut with precision reflects light with fantastic brilliance.Like a perfectly cut diamond, an outstanding leader projects or reflects their team’s capabilities by leveraging their strengths and building a collaborative environment. Such a leader’s communication is precise and razor-sharp, enabling them to be visionaries and guide their execution. When praised for the success achieved, their reaction is to shine a light on the team members.

   Outstanding leaders acquire the “cut” by becoming better at communication. They know who their audience is, practice their communications, and ruthlessly edit their drafts to achieve precision, both in writing and speech. They speak and write in simple language.

   They refine their leadership by giving credit to their teams and building up the team’s strengths by empowering and allowing them to fail and learn. They are strategic in their decision-making and problem-solving.

2. Clarity
   “The clarity of a diamond is based on the size, location, visibility, and number of inclusions or blemishes. Internal and surface reaching characteristics are called inclusions. External features are called blemishes.” — Gemological Institute of America. The better clarity a diamond has, the more highly it is valued.A leader who rates a high clarity in leadership is transparent, honest, and has excellent integrity.

   Authentic leaders who stand for their beliefs are similar to diamonds with very few inclusions or blemishes. Such a leader is good at making ethical decisions. While optimistic, they are realistic about the challenges associated with their goals and share their concerns.

   Clarity creates trust, which is a fundamental requirement in any relationship. Trust is possible when one is honest, has authentic competency, empathy, accountability, and consistency, and sets clear boundaries. For how to build trust, see the article “Trust: The Magic That Transforms Vision into Reality.”

3. Color
   “The GIA D-to-Z Color Scale starts with D. To avoid confusion, comparison, or association with previous systems, GIA begins with the letter D as the top (colorless) grade.” — Gemological Institute of America. A completely colorless diamond is rare and thus is highly valued. However, some diamonds have vibrant colors, such as blue or pink, making them extremely rare and highly desirable.We can equate being “colorless” in leadership to being consistent without dramatic flair. Team members always know what to expect from such a leader. Women such as Ginni Rometty, the former CEO of IBM, and Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo, are good examples of leaders who achieved excellent results while maintaining a relatively unassuming public presence. I rate them as Grade D leaders.

   However, some diamonds stand out in history because of their color and size. The Hope diamond, which originated in India and is currently at the Smithsonian, has a deep blue color and weighs over 40 carats. It is valued at over $200 million. According to Wikipedia, The Pink Star, formerly known as the Steinmetz Pink, is a diamond with a pink color weighing over 50 carats and was valued at over $70 million. Some leaders stand out like these rare diamonds because of their charisma. One might liken Napolean to the Hope Diamond for his brilliant strategies and the enormous changes he brought to Europe. Just like how the Hope diamond is supposed to be cursed, Napolean’s rule ended with him being exiled, and his leadership was feared while many admired him.

4. Carat
   “If two diamonds were identical in color, clarity, and cut, but one had a larger carat weight, then that diamond would be rarer and the price would likely increase accordingly.” — Gemological Institute of America. Carat defines the size of a diamond. Large diamonds are precious. However, even smaller diamonds could be as precious because of other characteristics such as cut, color, and clarity.In leaders, a carat represents the reach of their influence and the size of the impact they create. The influence is not by creating fear but by being a visionary and leading purposely. They are resilient in the face of setbacks and can lead their teams through crises. They don’t flinch from responsibilities imposed by the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world. They keep their spirits up and those of their teams.

The Multifaceted Approach to Leadership Greatness 

Once 100% carbon atoms, diamonds were created because of the enormous pressure they were subjected to. Careful cutting, shaping, and polishing made them into priceless gems highly desired by humans.

Like the finest diamonds, great leaders are shaped by their experiences of successes and failures and the lessons they learn from them. Just as diamonds are rated according to a standard, leaders are judged by their vision, purpose, authenticity, empathy, and charisma, among other outstanding attributes. You can learn to become a stand-out leader by developing your cut, clarity, color, and carat.

Written by Shantha Mohan Ph.D.