International opinion
By David Ripley and Milan Moravec (March 2004 Issue)
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Leaders, we’re often told, are those who have a vision, who clearly articulate it and who inspire others to adopt that vision as their own. For most organisations today, however, just having a vision isn’t enough; the right solutions, quickly executed, are also critical. Leadership makes that happen.
‘Are you a leader or a manager?’ A consultant to an engineering firm posed this question to a management team. The team looked puzzled – after all, aren’t managers leaders, and vice-versa? Not necessarily. As managers, we are sometimes so concerned with doing things right that we may forget to ask one of the key leader’s questions: ‘Are we doing the right things?’ In fact, the roles are different enough that top management in many organisations is beginning to look for leaders throughout all levels of the organisation rather than just within the existing ranks of management.
The shift in our organisations to terms such as ‘team leader’, ‘facilitator’ or ‘coach’ is a strong signal of new attitudes and approaches, not just a semantic device. Those in facilitation and coaching roles are in a great position to help develop potential leaders by encouraging leadership initiatives and new behaviours. This can be tricky, because potential leaders may tend to be heretical, challenging the way things have always been done and championing ideas that conservative managers may view with alarm.
A successful leader may be more like a high-velocity entrepreneur than a classic good manager. Common wisdom tells us entrepreneurs seldom make effective managers, but it doesn’t mean managers cannot be good leaders. Managers’ knowledge about their organisation’s processes, products, and past, as well as their networks of connections, make them good leadership candidates – as well as invaluable resources for other leaders.
Managers don’t automatically become leaders. And that is where leadership development comes in.
To develop effective leaders, particular attitudes and behaviours need to be encouraged. Those with vision who can create and implement solutions have particular characteristics. Here are some suggestions for aspiring leaders, based on what we’ve observed in organisations finding leadership within reach at all levels. The suggestions may seem like a list of clichés. Remember, however, that clichés exist primarily because most of the time, they’re true. And while many can recite clichés, fewer actually behave the clichés. How many of these behaviours does your leadership development programme stress?
* Plunge in and start; you’ll never have all the facts and the answers.
* The need for urgency and disciplined thinking cannot be overstated.
* Avoid excess hierarchy.
* Cross-functional teams, including self-managing ones, enable faster responses to new challenges.
* If you make a mistake, admit it, fix it if you can, learn from it and try something else.
* Successful products and services must be continually measured, updated and rebuilt.
* There is no change without risk. Risk must be engaged to create a future.
* Look for solutions you haven’t tried before – preferably simpler ones.
* With the aid of your teams, identify basic ‘anchors’ and desired outcomes that will guide subsequent decisions.
* Make sure everyone is committed to the outcomes.
* Let your actions confirm your commitment.
* Don’t be afraid to fail or you will not succeed, but always work at your skill to recover.
* Tell the truth about the organisation’s health and needs.
* Build management and employee creditability and customer loyalty with good relationships and by delivering on promises made.
* Stay flexible, keep learning and know how to balance your needs with those of the business. Encourage leadership behaviours by others at all levels of the organisation.
* Learn now to handle emotions (yours and others) resulting from change and transition.
* Talk is not cheap: lack of talk at the right levels is deadly.
* Maintain momentum; don’t let negative results stop the transformation.
* Results can signal that you need to move in a new direction without signalling that you have the wrong goal.
* A leader recognises the possibility of failure: security is not normal to leaders.
When organisations have access to the same customers and suppliers, differences in performance may well be a result of the quality of their leadership. And when leadership is systematically and deliberately cultivated at all levels, with a focus on the attitudes and behaviours that lead to envisioning and implementing solutions to address the organisation’s competitive environment, the probability of attaining that high quality of leadership is greatly enhanced.
NZATD professionals can make a bottom line contribution to their organisation’s sustainable competitive advantage by creating and implementing value creation tools, systems and measures to drive leadership development.
David Ripley is a member of the New Zealand Association for Training and Development (NZATD).
Milan Moravec is the CEO of Moravec and Associates, consultants to management, and is a lecturer in the Engineering and Project Management Systems Group at the University of California at Berkeley.
NZATD is the professional association for workplace learning and performance and training and development specialists in New Zealand. The Association was formed in 1974, and has members from all areas of business and the education sector. For more information about the work of NZATD visit www.nzatd.org.nz
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