Torch (eBook)

Introduction

A few years ago, I had the honor of attending a managers’ meeting at a Fortune 500 company. In attendance were two vice presidents, several business unit managers, product line managers, sales territory managers, and manufacturing plant managers. The keynote speaker was the President of North America Operations. During his speech, he thanked everyone for the leadership that they provided for their own unit operations and for the company. The speech was well-delivered, uplifting, and motivating for all of those in attendance.

To this day, I still recall some of the comments, experiences, and stories that the keynote speaker shared. However, what I remember most was his answer to one of the questions that was asked after his speech. One of the business unit managers asked him where he felt the business was most vulnerable. He didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he said that what the business needed most was more “Effective Leaders.” In his opinion, he felt there was a shortage of “good” leaders throughout all of industry. He challenged everyone in the room to search for “Effective Leaders” during recruiting efforts and then develop that potential from within the business.

A short time later, I was having a private dinner with one of the vice presidents. As we were casually talking about the business and past performance, he too began talking in very general terms about the effectiveness of leadership in the company and particularly in his division. In his view, a group of leaders in his division were very effective, high-performing leaders. He referred to this group as “stallions.” Also, in his view, another group of leaders had leadership “flaws.” There was a third group in the middle, but on this particular occasion their leadership effectiveness was not particularly noteworthy.

Why do many business executives believe that there is a lack of effective leadership in their organizations?

First, let’s consider the obvious answer. The perception of many business executives that a lack of effective leadership exists within their organizations is most likely a true assessment.

Is there a real shortage of Effective Leaders in businesses today? Both national and international polls seem to indicate there is. Depending on which polling organization you choose to use, you may find that the current perception is that less than half of business managers are Effective Leaders. A recent Gallup poll suggested only 18% of managers demonstrate a high level of talent for “managing” others. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development poll recently showed “people management” was voted as the top leadership skill needed by organizations. The same poll revealed that 53% of those polled said that their leader’s current skills were ineffective. A staffing survey taken recently by Robert Half Company also indicated 50% of management candidates lack leadership skills. In addition, 18% of these managers demonstrated poor planning skills, and 14% were purported to have poor communication skills. Each of these studies, and many more, point to a shortfall of Effective Leaders in the world of commerce.

Another possible reason that some business executives believe that there is a lack of effective leadership in their organization may be because some leaders within the organization lack an active, cohesive vision, or lack a set of long-term goals. Perhaps the vision is defined but it is on a shelf, out of sight, and out of mind. Perhaps the strategy systems, and long-term planning systems, within these organizations are not fully developed. Within many organizations, and especially within many businesses, short-term goals drive the organization. Without a defined organizational purpose, a unifying set of values, a clear vision of the future state, and a strategy development system for planning value-added change, a leader may find it difficult to course correct the evolutionary path of an organization. Without a defined organizational purpose, a unifying set of values, and a clear, communicated vision of the future, team members may feel that the organization is not being led.

Third, leaders of compensated teams tend to lead differently than leaders of organizations where team members aren’t compensated. The awareness that team members are being paid to produce outcomes and remain part of the team, can at times, influence the actions, and inactions, of business leaders. When business leaders assume that the influence imparted by compensation is all the influence that should be necessary in order to engage team members in the pursuit of the organization’s goals, leadership opportunities are missed. On the opposite end of this spectrum, when team members are largely self-motivated by compensation, benefits, and/or other incentives, some business leaders may, over time, assume that their leadership skills are better than they really are. (Self-motivated, self-correcting, capable, adaptive, high performing teams naturally make themselves and the leader look good.) These two false assumptions by the business leaders likely contribute significantly to the results of leadership effectiveness perception surveys completed by their team members.

Fourth, while many businesses offer leadership training for their leaders, this training is often basic training and occurs mostly at the lower leadership levels. Organizations that seek to improve leadership effectiveness should consider leadership training for all leadership levels and utilize programs that have both beginner and advanced courses. Entry level leadership classes often introduce leadership concepts and explain basic leadership tools such as how to set goals or how to facilitate an effective meeting. Advance leadership training courses should embrace complexity, emergence, mentoring, and organizational behavior leadership topics in addition to the basic leadership essential tools. Effective, mature leaders enjoy learning and most of these leaders, if they could break themselves away from the day to day routines and struggles, would likely welcome programmed leadership development opportunities regardless of their age or tenure. Effective Leaders who are at the pinnacle of their careers, or are close to retirement, would likely be open to mentoring other leaders that have the potential to grow.

Fifth, based on my personal observations after leading both businesses and a few smaller non-profit organizations for decades, many leaders seem to have a very narrow view as to what it means to be an “Effective Leader” in a complex organization. Someone once told me that the most important thing you need to know when you are working in a large organization is “who can get you fired?” If the standard of a leader is to avoid getting fired, then the bar that the leader has set is extremely low. Effective Leaders set a much higher bar.

Finally, in English-speaking countries, leadership related terminology is confusing. Many English language–speaking business executives, including HR executives, use confusing terminology. We all interchange the words “manager” and “leader” frequently and without consideration. Yet, most of us envision different models when we think of the word “manager” versus when we think of the word “leader.” Trying to describe a single role in society by frequently interchanging two words that evoke two different mental models can increase communication error and prohibit learning. In simple terms, trying to describe a single role in society by frequently interchanging two words that evoke two different mental models is maddening, especially when teaching young leaders for whom English is their second language.

Let’s take a closer look at the words, “manager” and “leader.”

In practice, the word “manager” is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of roles rather than a term with a specific meaning. In context of this broader meaning, a manager exists as someone that manages resources such as capital, time, and inventory. A manager also transitions into a leadership role in order to provide influence to direct reports and others. Leaders, on the other hand, simply influence others (and therefore the organization) and may or may not have a managerial role. Someone who is a “good manager” of resources may excel at delivering the organization’s financial commitments or may excel at delivering quality goods and services timely, but may be a poor “leader” of the people in the organization. “Good Leaders” may or may not have an organizational title. “Good Leaders” excel in influencing others to achieve beneficial change, but may be poor managers of resources such as capital, materials, or even time. The belief that there is a lack of “good leaders”, or “effective leaders” in business today is most likely a belief that there is a lack of individuals within business who excel at both “manager” and “leader” roles.

When I look at perception surveys that report 50% of management candidates lack leadership skills, I tell myself that I have a very clear understanding of the question and the response. Yet, because of the way I model the terms, my understanding of the question is likely different from others that also claim to have a clear understanding of the question. Because of the different mental models that the words “manager” and “leader” conjure, there is likely a third group that is confused by the question. Within the survey which mental model is the survey asking about, and which mental model is the team member responding about? In this case, an argument could easily be made that the survey question is flawed. Shouldn’t the survey ask,...