Why is leadership so hard? Why is it that there are so few who dedicate themselves to truly leading others. I plan to share some of my career stories mixed with a little reading and insights to try to seek some solutions.
Over almost 20 years of work experience, I have collected my fair share of leadership stories featuring uninspiring bosses, leaders who were in the role just for themselves and couldn’t care less as well as the most engaging leaders, who acted as coaches and were simply pleasant human beings, who were thoughtful, gifted and attentive.
I have been in some hilarious situations (the continental boss who didn’t realise that a certain word translated very differently in English), embarrassing situations (the boss who came to a client meeting drunk and made some inappropriate comments thinking both my client and myself would be flattered) and unacceptable situations (daylight theft; the boss who used my numbers to make up own shortage to earn bonus).
Not only the quality of bosses was at times variable, I also had, despite only having worked for 4 companies, 15 bosses in 18 years. Hardly any time to build mentoring and trusting relationships.
So I started wondering: did I choose the wrong employers perhaps? Not sure if the great corporate organisations I have worked for, with well established brands and most of them people businesses (“you recognise them if they state that People are our most important asset”), are so vastly different from the client organisations I have worked with in a consultancy capacity.
Am I just a horrible person, which people do not take to? Well for what it is worth, I am still very much in touch with most of them and my performance ratings, informed by 360° surveys, were above average. What strikes me is that most of the people who weren’t the best bosses were actually super human beings and fun to be with…outside the office. Somehow when entering the workplace and wearing “their corporate coat” they turned into someone unrecognizable, who was less appealing to be around.
Checking in with a cohort of peers, as part of the fieldwork for this article, the floodgate of similar experiences opens. I am, unfortunately, no exception. The stories make good material for both comedy and drama. Can we have more good leaders please?
So, I have a few questions: why are so many people put in leadership positions who seems not to have the skills to motivate others and get the best of their direct reports? Or why do people accept leadership positions if they are not really remotely interested in people as human beings? Or why is it that most leaders spend a disproportionate amount managing upwards rather than being a leader bringing people along? In a world as complex as ours today leadership is needed at all levels. And I share Kotter’s view that we simply haven’t got enough of it.
The simple answer according to Dr Gareth Jones, a thought leader, is that leadership is hard. One of the key success factors, well-articulated in his book “Why should anyone be led by you” is that leadership requires authenticity. This means for most of the leaders that they need to unlearn a lot of things which they have been focussing hard on to accomplish on their journey to become a leader. Or in the words of Marshall Goldsmith: “what got you here, won’t get you there.” It is not rocket science that we like people we feel to have a real connection with. We feel it in our finger tips if someone pretends, plays a role, is saying something but not truly believing it and worse the ones who expect things from their people but don’t seem to apply the same standards to themselves. It is no wonder that so many organisation’s engagement survey results call out for more work to be done on leaders behaving in line with the company values…as these just simply ask people to be decent human beings. So what is stopping us to put equal weighting in appraisals, and bonus pay outs, on how people achieved their objectives as much as what they have achieved?
Another well documented key success factor for leadership is self-assurance. We don’t want a leader who is wobbly but one that provides direction, doesn’t give up at the first hurdle and doesn’t sacrifice great things being done which will only yield in the longer term to meet short term objectives. Self- assured leaders reach a healthy balance between being determined, strong-willed and self-confident; believing the team will pull things off whatever comes their way. In today’s business climate, still very much based on a capitalism paradigm, it isn’t easy given the pressure of shareholders on short term financial targets. Leaders need to have the courage and be determined to have tough conversations one level up and at times go against the conventional thinking of the majority. Is it a coincidence that many successful entrepreneurs didn’t thrive in corporate settings? Why not putting measurements in place to spot intrapreneurs and corporate dissidents in your talent management practices. If you invite them in and support them, they can make your business go the extra mile.
Yet with this comes another hurdle brought up by Gareth Jones: you need to conform enough, to be allowed to be different. This is so true. You need to read the code to become one of the pack to then be able to act as an internal change agent and, gradually but surely, show how things can be done slightly differently and creating movement. Time will tell if the recent elected French president, Emmanuel Macron, might be a good example by only having spent a few good years as adviser and minister, being part of the system, to then set up a new movement to disrupt the traditional left-right party paradigm in politics. His aim is now to get the country back on the rails and provide a better living standard for the average French citizen. If he pulls this one off, it would be an example of great leadership in my opinion because he will have learnt to conform enough to be allowed to be different.
Leadership is also about knowing yourself. An excellent article by Otto Scharmer “Uncovering the blind spot of Leadership”, brings the notion of self-awareness to a whole new level which I have found quite insightful. He describes it as open mind, open heart and open will. He shows the importance of mindfulness and ensuring we live balanced, happy lives so our brain is in a peaceful mode and will encourage to act in a generous and insightful way. We are all too familiar with the opposite scenario, interacting with overworked and stressed out bosses. You feel for them and you don’t dare to even ask more of their time. A lose-lose scenario unfolds as a result.
Last but not least: Leadership is about collaboration. Frederick Laloux, a successful author of the book “Reinventing Organisations” points out the importance of thinking as a system to create a successful context. Dr Jones is also advocating us to realise the importance of context in bringing great leadership about. I am intrigued by how many situations we could have avoided (Trump, Brexit, …) if leaders had understood the importance of explaining that adopting an abundance paradigm is better for all than being stuck in old business management competitors thinking.
My belief is that everyone should be given a chance to realise their potential and that the world has an abundance of resources which people can choose to use wisely to the benefit of all. Leaders should make time to mentor and think altruistic, not egocentric. Mentoring is essential to create future leaders. Most successful people refer to someone who helped them along the way to get where they got to. Great leaders create the conditions for people to thrive. They remove barriers and amplify enablers. They are talent builders, and net exporters of talent.
So now is the time to test yourself and look at the questions below and ask yourself, should anyone be led by me.
To be a leader you need to demonstrate:
And if your curiosity is sparkled, here are my top tips if you are interested in becoming a better leader:
Let me have your feedback. Be in touch to share your learning journey or to discuss your (organisation’s) quest for great leadership: caroline.vanovermeire@effraconsult.com
Resources:
Otto Scharmer: “Uncovering the blind spot of Leadership”, Executive Forum Winter 2008
Mike Goffee and Gareth Jones: “Why should anyone be led by you”, 2006
Marshall Goldsmith: “Triggers”, 2015
Frederick Laloux: “Reinventing organisations”, 2016
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