Changing Times - Changing Demands on Leadership?

What are the expectations of leaders? To provide direction, maintain and enhance engagement, encourage innovation and efficiency savings, and ensure service delivery, yet are these realistic? In theory they should be, yet we've seen over the past few years that in practice not so much. So what are the real issues that undermine the leadership initiatives that have been so prevalent? What does this mean for leaders, and the way in which they operate?

Over the past few years there has been a concerted move to increase leadership capability, with many excellent programmes and initiatives taking place. What we have seen though is that these are not always embedded into everyday action. When we're facilitating discussions focused on leadership frameworks, it's become very clear that leaders know a lot, but just aren't using it (e.g. one Director typified this with the words 'I know I should do this (coaching), I just don't get the time'). Has leadership therefore become another aspect of the role that sits alongside operations, rather than integrated as part of day-to-day operations?

We've found this integrated approach rarely happens… why? We think it's due to a number of reasons including the influence of culture (the way things are done within the organisation). For example, one organisation wants their leaders at all levels to use a more transformational leadership style yet the processes and systems that are in place, the structure of the organisation, and the way in which the external stakeholders want information actually inhibits this. It appears that processes are often put in place to cover almost every eventuality, leaders at the top of the organisation still want to make all the decisions, individuals in operational or service delivery roles feel that they are not listened to, and stakeholders continue to make demands which are not necessarily in the best interest of the organisation and its effectiveness, both short, mid and long term. So, what does this mean for organisations and for leaders themselves?

Processes - help or hindrance to leadership

Over the years we've worked with many organisations that need to have comprehensive processes and systems in place to either prove value for money, profitability, or to safeguard the organisation in terms of legislation, regulation, or public reputation. So, how have leaders responded? Individuals within organisations understand the need for frameworks, yet has this gone too far? Have these become mazes for individuals rather than enabling efficient decision-making, and the use of common-sense? It seems that leaders may need to be braver, not 'punishing' individuals if they use their common-sense, albeit working within a framework. This may help leaders re-engage with their staff, using logic and ethical decision making rather than relying on a procedure to tell them
how to act.

Collaboration - real or imagined

We've found over the years that people working at the 'front line' often know how best to improve what's being done, and have great ideas on how things could be streamlined, yet too often they feel that they can't get their voices heard, or there's nothing in it for them if they do.

One way around this is for leaders to be genuinely interested in the concerns and ideas of their workforce, being able to really listen to staff - yet many leaders have said that they already do. They've told us that they ask individuals for comments, they feel that they do collaborate, yet why is that people on the ground delivering the service tell us differently, most notably 'I don't get told anything, lots of secret meetings and get little information', or "I tell my manager what the issues are but feel that they get watered down the higher they get up the chain". Are leaders worried about news going further up the chain? We've found that many feel that being so honest is career suicide, so no surprise that in the current climate people are reticent to come forward. One question therefore is how much un-tapped talent and ideas are in your organisation? How capable are your leaders in giving and receiving feedback that encourages people to feel involved in the destiny of their organisation? People are aware of what's going on - how well do you
really 'hear'?

So, what may leaders need to do?

From our experience with organisations, if leaders are to help their organisations cope with an ever changing environment, full of uncertainty, then they will need to be able to listen better, receive and provide feedback, and learn from mistakes rather than punish them, using processes as frameworks rather than being a slave to them. This will require individuals to become better at coaching their staff, balancing the needs of holding people to account whilst supporting them to learn from experience and improve the way that they lead rather than simply focus on transactional operational tasks.

For more information contact Nationwide Training - Andrea Metcalf on 01425 475862, 07976 217657 or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .