The Work Clinic

John Frost, operations director, Values Based Leadership
In an increasingly global community in which control over an organisation’s functions has to be vested at local levels (as central control is impossible), there is a significant need for developing the leadership skills within organisations.

The trend for de-layering means there are significantly less opportunities to rise up the corporate ladder at a time when young people entering business life are both better qualified and more mobile than ever: there is even a growing tendency for the employee to employ the employer rather than the other way round.

Harvard Business Review recently reported that the ‘signature’ experience of a company – what they stand for and what they can offer a new recruit – is the key to attracting talent. And there is undoubtedly and will continue to be a war for talent.

I feel it is unlikely that talent is going to be attracted to a centrally controlled and hierarchical organisation - at least not for very long. There is another point: traditional notions of leadership – the leader out there on their white charger leading the way – are hugely exposed in a fast-moving and global society. The notion of the all-knowing, all-seeing leader is dead. I truly believe that leadership can and should come from all parts of the organisation.

South West Airlines is a model company. Its success is founded on their people taking on leadership at all levels. All employees are empowered to take decisions to upkeep the quality of the customer experience.

So how do companies achieve a leadership culture?
• It starts with attitude - you have to believe in your people and their ability to lead.
• Leadership is seen as a critical success factor in the strategic development of the business.
• Put your money where your mouth is in terms of developing a leadership culture.

A leadership culture goes hand-in-hand with a coaching culture. It might even be argued that they’re one and the same thing. Whether you have internal or external coaches, the ability of the organisation to learn through a coaching culture will significantly underpin the development of a leadership culture. Either way, the benefits to your organisation of introducing such a culture will, I am sure, be huge.

Ros Taylor:

Listening to companies and their quest for leaders at all levels, my understanding is that they want people who are more empowered, with more vision and more ideas than mere managers. Of course there is an element of flavour of the month about all this ‘managers should now be leaders’ thrust, but there is some substance behind it. Companies are demanding a more involved, active style, with employees volunteering to run projects at all levels in the organisation.

Certainly my research with chief executives revealed that volunteering to solve company headaches was a sure-fire way of getting noticed before ascending to the top. However, as organisations grow it is difficult to find such opportunities. So investing in leadership development is a neccessity and good organisations do that regularly.

My strongly held belief is that good leadership is about being clear on objectives, tough on delivery, while being supportive of people. And as an organisation focusing on creativity and new ways of doing things.