What is leadership…?
According to John Quincy Adams, a leader is a person ‘whose actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more.’
A group of college students were recently asked to make a list of qualities they would expect from a leader. They listed integrity, vision, strategy, effective communication, persuasion, adaptability, generosity, motivation, teamwork, a sense of humour, decision-making capability, creativity, flexibility, sympathy, dedication, and amenability to reason as the most vital attributes for a leader. Of course, context determines what qualities are needed most in any given situation.
That’s part of why leadership is challenging and so hard to do well.
But leadership is important; it cannot be ignored or left to chance.The productivity of all of our enterprise depends on it. Australia’s productivity depends on it.
The importance of human capital is greater now than ever before for several reasons (A topic worthy of discussion and its own upcoming post). But the key point here is this – If human capital lacks proper leadership, it flounders. It is wasted.
Leadership is shared task. It doesn’t necessarily go with a particular job description. Within any group dynamic there are many opportunities for various team members in different roles to lead. I like to think in terms of ‘reversible leadership’ – that is from the inside-out and the outside-in. And the downside-up as well as the upside-down. In fact ‘reversible leadership’ can happen in any and every direction within each of us and across all of our interactions and networks.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Healthy Workplace Model, leadership encompasses avenues of influence, process and core principles. And it traverses the physical work environment, the psychosocial work environment, enterprise community involvement, and personal health resources. At its core, it is based on ethics and values.
And it requires BOTH leadership engagement and worker involvement.
Building culture means shifting from a management mindset to a leadership approach to healthy workplace culture.
There are many types of leadership and leadership styles – transformational, democratic, autocratic, laissez-faire, bureaucratic, servant, transactional, educational, cross cultural, charismatic, and steward leadership. Any of them, or a combination, may be called for, depending on the context and what an organisation or a certain team or network requires at any given time. For example, if an organisation needs to change, as many do, then what is required to start with probably includes transformational leadership. But other approaches and styles may be called for as well.
Leadership also needs to be authentic, consistent with identity and integrity in which leaders and followers influence each other in their unique growth and development.
Servant leadership has received a lot of attention of late. It’s about understanding the importance of relationships throughout the organisation, and that leaders need to serve the community of the organisation. Because robust culture isn’t just about ‘playground duties.’ And effective leadership is no longer about command-and-control over but rather empowering the human capital within the organisations to transition from hierarchical ‘control over,’ to shared ‘ownership with.’
In recent roles I have spent a fair bit of time thinking about leadership for change. Leadership for change first requires understanding of what change is, and what it means for that organisation. Understanding the stages of change and how they affect people in the organisation. Only then is it possible to lead in appropriately formulating and implementing the strategies and tactics to achieve the objectives of the planned changes.
There are many different leadership personas, tools, and approaches. I’ll finish up with six tips I learned a few years ago from an experienced leader. These tips still resonate with me today –
- Get close to the problem
- Take intelligent, informed risks
- Use evidence to guide decision-making
- Accept failure is an opportunity for learning – and keep trying
- Facilitate collaboration and creation, and
- Look for solutions that demonstrate high potential to achieve disproportionate impact.
What leadership styles would you say this list reflects? What in this post resonates with you, or causes you hesitation? I’d love to hear from you.