Leadership for Change

At the heart of leadership is the ability to inspire and enable others to reach common goals. New organisational realities mean that a broad range of people will be needed to do this. They may occupy a key position in the hierarchy of the company, be part of a matrix, a team leader or a member or partner of a collaborative team.  Regardless of which one, they will need to continually develop and redevelop their influencing skills to be effective in the new knowledge era. The days of command and control and influencing based solely on the power of position are disappearing.

Both public and private sector organisations will benefit from supporting current and future leaders to develop authentic, collaborative and accountable leadership behaviours and build the emotional intelligence, communication and networking skills that underpin them.  Because people matter, they will need to build inclusive workplaces that embrace difference and inspire everyone to contribute to their vision to of a better future. Trust in organisations and leaders won’t shift overnight, but new leadership is essential to restoring it. 

“Successful leaders have a nose for opportunity and a knack for knowing whom to tap to get things done. These qualities depend on a set of strategic networking skills that nonleaders rarely possess.”

Public and private sector organisations are rethinking their mission, values and operations against a new 21^st century backdrop.  The current economic downturn and the events that created it have added urgency.  Both public and private sector organisations are seeking to restructure and transform themselves to seize the opportunities of a globally, connected world where people, driven by values and equipped with knowledge, will collaborate and innovate.   Leadership will play a pivotal role in making this happen.

Leadership talent and transformation explores some of the challenges facing leaders and the important behaviours and competencies that will make them successful. It takes a look at leadership behaviours from a gender perspective and suggests key actions to develop and support men and women in current and future leadership roles.

A crisis in trust

Trust in business and government is at a low ebb. Business and government scandals over a number of years have knocked confidence in them yet trust is integral to transforming organisations.

Leadership for the future

Many of our leaders were trained in the last decades of the industrial era in hierarchical organisations typified by command and control. The knowledge era requires leaders who can inspire and empower people to collaborate in flatter structures across boundaries. Executives themselves acknowledge there is a gap in the leadership behaviours needed for the future and current leadership practices in their organisations.

Who leads is also being redefined.  Leadership power is increasingly shifting from single individuals to teams in a matrix structure. The focus on what followers want from leaders is rising. At the same time, the demarcation between who is a follower and who is a leader is becoming more fluid.

The why, what and how of leadership

Leadership is the art of bringing people together to achieve common goals. The what of results is the end purpose but vision and values are why people are inspired to achieve them. Balancing short-term results with the longer-term values and vision builds trust in organisations.  Leadership behaviours are how followers are engaged, guided and supported.  Authentic, collaborative and accountable leadership behaviours are the most effective.

Core competencies: emotional intelligence, communication, networking

Leadership behaviours that are authentic, collaborative and accountable are underpinned by three key core competencies. Emotional intelligence encompasses self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation and social skills. It enables leaders to motivate and engage people.  Communication is as much about the ability to inspire through words and deeds as to actively listen.  The ability to networking, whether face-to-face or virtually, is critical to leveraging knowledge of people inside and outside the organisation. 

A gender perspective

Men and women often display different leadership styles although their ability to stimulate people intellectually is seen as gender neutral. Research has shown that women are less likely to display command and control behaviours and are more likely to engage in participative decision making. They demonstrate inspiration and meeting  expectations and rewards in their behaviours more frequently than male counterparts.  In 360 feedback, women score more highly than men in showing genuine concern for people, an attribute strongly correlated with inspirational leadership.

Developing and supporting leaders

Talent management systems determine who will be given leadership opportunities but they are not always bias free. Senior leaders, consciously or consciously, often stress capabilities or select people that mirror themselves. This may exclude new capabilities that the organisation needs or talent from more diverse backgrounds.  Interactive dialogues about talent management need to take place within organisations. Unconscious bias needs to be better understood and addressed.

Creating listening and learning organisations will support the development of emotionally intelligent, collaborative leaders. The use of 360 feedback, focus groups and well structured employee surveys foster organisation and individual learning. They are most effective in organisations characterised by openness and trust in which honesty does not damage career prospects.

Organisational cultures that value difference in thinking are more likely to recruit and retain a diverse group of leaders in a highly diverse world. While mainstreaming diversity initiatives through the breadth and depth of an organisation is important, efforts to do this have not yet yielded more diversity at senior levels. Embracing different thinking and positively working through disagreement and conflict in a collaborative way will create social rules and cultures where different people can thrive.      

Public and private sector organisations are rethinking their mission, values and  operations against a new 21^st century backdrop.  The current economic downturn and the events that created it have added urgency.  Both public and private sector organisations are seeking to restructure and transform themselves to seize the opportunities of a globally, connected world where people, driven by values and equipped with knowledge, will collaborate and innovate.   Leadership will play a pivotal role in making this happen.

Leadership talent and transformation explores some of the challenges facing leaders and the important behaviours and competencies that will make them successful. It takes a look at leadership behaviours from a gender perspective and suggests key actions to develop and support men and women in current and future leadership roles.

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Hubris
Kate Sexton | 30 Jun 09

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