A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE FOR 2012

Europe's dead, the world is going into a double dip recession, businesses are going into receivership, and banks aren't lending money; how come this nation's businesses function at all. If you believed all you read in the newspapers or hear on the radio or TV you would be feeling pretty depressed as you enter a brave new year. How would those negative feelings assist you in challenging business times, how would they boost your confidence, how would they inspire those you lead to greater feats and happiness?
The natural inclination to focus on the negative underpinned by a natural instinct designed to assist self preservation also comes with a severe negative influence that is extremely unhealthy as the world of capitalism mutates into something new and unknown. Positivity is the only way forward but positivity requires perspective,
Key attributes that are needed in organisations to allow businesses to survive and develop in this new economic climate are vision, flexibility, courage, determination, teamwork and a positive disposition. None of them are new, few of them are developed and sustained deliberately in times of plenty and yet they are the ones most needed when times become more difficult.  What is missing in the short term approach to business is perspective. Its missing when things are healthy as it is not required but the evidence of its absence is stark when things get tougher. Perspective is vital within business leadership. Perspective is a view or prospect; it is also a particular way of regarding something. However for me the best description in a business context is an understanding of the relative importance of things.
The most important consideration in today’s business perspective is that the world has changed and it will not return to the heady days of 2008 prior to the banking crisis. But disaster is not as imminent as the media would have us believe.  Business is changing form as pace, risk, economics and environment impact upon it. It is only those business that have true perspective and apply themselves in a positive way using vision, flexibility, courage, determination that will endure whilst those without perspective who hanker after days gone by will soon become a part of history as they are the ones that lack the necessary qualities.

LEADING IN 2012

The problem with the modern world is the speed of change. When one compares the speed an individual changes and the speed with which an environment can change and compare both with the speed of organisational change you can instantly identify the mismatch. So why is this obvious phenomenon such a challenge for the modern leader? Quite simply it’s because different issues and different problems require different characteristics and styles of leadership and leaders need to be more style savvy. The world now moves so fast with its new technologies that leaders who are autocrats struggle to keep up. Sometimes control needs to be exercised from on high sometimes influence comes from a lot further down the secret is exercising the right level of influence and control at the appropriate level at the appropriate time. Successful leadership is as much about the right environment as it is about the leader’s characteristics and a rapidly changing environment will challenge any leader however proficient.

Let’s just take three types of problem and assess the characteristics a leader may need to possess to be effective in delivering progress or a solution to each problem type. Keith Grint in Problems Problems Problems defines three categories of problem. The first is a Critical problem one that needs a solution now; they are problems that require a rapid solution to prevent further escalation. Here a leader needs to be both decisive and considerate in their actions; decisive to prevent the problem from running out of control instantly and yet considerate to all those involved with a view to a longer term solution. The London Riots are a fine example of a critical problem escalating. A wicked problem is more ambiguous in its boundaries or very complex where time may not be a consideration. Here a leader needs to understand and recognise the root causes of the issue and manage all those parties and agendas involved in the problem. Patience, intellect, emotional intelligence and understanding are key attributes required of a leader as they try to construct a collaborative solution. An example of a wicked problem is teenage pregnancy.  Now the third type of problem is the tame problem where the issue can be quickly and easily resolved although time may not be a consideration. In an efficient organisation these are dealt with relatively simply through process and operating procedures. They are the province of management and only become significant when they are raised at too high a level where they can quickly become disruptive. A leader needs courage and confidence to enable the organisation to deal with tame problems whilst maintaining them at the correct level. Courage to trust and teach followers, confidence to delegate and empower followers. Leaders need to establish organisations that understand of each member's responsibilities, allocated boundaries and expectations. They therefore instil an ethos of ownership and responsibility that ensures problems are resolved quickly and effectively.

Control is the conundrum that confuses many in leadership roles, who has it, when should it be relinquished or delegated and how is it perceived? A leader is generally in a pre-ordained position of control at the start of a critical problem but has to work hard to maintain that control to engineer and sustain the long term solution. With a wicked problem the work begins in earnest straight away as the potential leader wrestles with the problem in order to generate the required understanding and environment to enable them to become a permissive leader. The third tame problem requires an ethos and culture of understanding and empowerment to exist so that responsibility is easily shouldered at the appropriate level. This requires a hierarchy enabling the delegation of control and trust from the leader downwards to the appropriate level. This is where the true potential of servant leadership shines through as the leader becomes the enabler rather than the controller or owner of the issue or the enforcer of a solution.

The skill sets and attributes required of the various leaders for each of the problems are different. This is why a leader needs the right circumstances and environment to become a lauded leader. A great leader's skill sets and personal attributes have to match the moment. The old English proverb still rings true "opportunity makes the man"

The modern world where life is fast, communication is fast and technological advantage short lived, amplifies the requirement for flexibility and creates the need for an extended range of attributes from a leader. This can be achieved either by a group of leaders or a chameleon like flexible leader who has the innate qualities to lead and influence for an extended period of time. The current business environment is not the time for autocracy, and it is not the time for ponderous committees- the modern leader must be equipped with a toolbox of varied attributes that are suited to different environs and situations, but like anything in life it is the ability to recognise and understand the issue and produce the right tool to influence and lead at the right time that will make a leader stand out. Leaders need to comprehend the challenge that the modern pace of life imposes on their own leadership longevity and hence their utility as leaders. Leaders need to comprehend every situation in terms of scale and risk and they need to constantly be aware of both in order to apply the right style or model to the situation. Historically continuity and stability has helped leaders to prosper and yet modern life is about change. The one continuum in modern life is change itself - it is just quicker than it has ever been!

 A leader enables followers to follow and but followers make leaders. Both Churchill and Hitler were adored by their followers and loathed by each other's followers. There is no single set of attributes which make one individual a greater leader than another, just great leadership opportunities to match a leader's characteristics to a particular situation or environment. Both Hitler and Churchill served a tough apprenticeship of failure until the right opportunities arose. Both were extremely successful for just a relatively short period of time. How many leaders are truly successful for an extended period of time? What apprenticeship did they serve and how did they lead? Questions that are worthy of pondering as the answers are key to the argument that leaders in today's world need to be far more flexible and adaptable than their predecessors. They cannot just be selected they have to be developed so that they have the full range of qualities and attributes to meet their particular environment. Leadership is as much about learning as it is about knowing and a leader has to be flexible to provide the appropriate response. 

A NEW FORM OF LEADERSHIP

We have entered the age of empowered individuals. Leaders use potent new technologies and harness social media to organize themselves and focus interest on their agendas and activities. Most are ordinary people with access to new information tools that can virally create large global audiences for their messages.
The more traditional hierarchical institutions of modern developed societies, whether they are governments or companies, are not prepared or ready for this new social power or leadership as the riots in London and the recent occupy campaigns in cities around the World exemplify.
This power has resulted in the emergence of a new dynamic form of leadership and new styles of leader - they are individuals who do not hold formal positions of authority, they operate and influence at every level within society virtually - top, middle and bottom. They are interested in political, social and organisational change. They challenge the status quo of the traditional institutions and the established concepts and practices of leadership. The speed of action of such groups implies revolution although given the pace of modern life it may just reflect more rapid evolution.
The world is changing and potential leaders now have phenomenal access through modern technology to potential followers; but are we really seeing the emergence of a new 'grassroots leadership style' or just a virtual reaction to current geo-political and economic issues and imbalances on global organisational and social stages?
This new technological advantage neuters traditional power and law enforcement and quickly turns virtual agendas into reality and action on an unprecedented scale. What we are seeing is the emergence of a new type of social leadership, irrespective of position or power or authority - relational rather than hierarchical. The concept of a fluid collective responsibility with time relevant 'liquid leadership'  that builds, fades and morphs - where leadership comes to the fore at the top, centre, or edges of an organisation be it virtual or real. Leadership based more upon time relevant expertise, knowledge, and relational connection. It is a transient relationship where power is virtual and yet influence is real - a matter of permissive leadership with influence presiding over old fashioned traditional enforced authority, control and autocracy. Speed is of the essence and speed creates a phenomenal advantage for these new free running leaders. Accordingly, social power or the 'power with' rather than 'power over' provides the collaborative advantage even on the global stage. Witness the Arab Spring. This new leadership can be momentary and omnipotent, as powerful and transient as it is weak and ineffective. Predictable-maybe sometimes, yet surprise brings potency and it's this new leadership's unpredictability in terms of uptake or influence that can make it difficult to control.  A popular cause and the means of unfettered communication are at the heart of this new leadership. Alliances fostered in an information age where national agendas are undone by social perceptions.
This  new leadership has a precedent; it is  similar in shape to the old terrorism of Al Qaida and Osama bin Laden. Where a religious and social agenda created a fanaticism that spawned martyrs by the thousand. Where social agendas pampered to by a sensationalist press created a myth of omnipotence. Perhaps the new anti-establishmentarianism will be seen as  the new terrorism when viewed from an old fashioned state government perspective
This new leadership comes and goes dependent upon the social situation and leaders come and go dependent upon the relevance of their expertise and the access they have to social media and the scale of their audience. This new form is so dynamic it resembles a 'liquid leadership' of a group coalesced by only a  social strategy or  popular agenda.
These new groups herded together by social conscience or injustice often present a preferred response  to those transgressors they oppose. Their preference is for action, to engage, not ignore; work with each other, not against to resolve issues  by whatever means whether the establishment likes it or not.
Business needs to understand this new dimension of leadership, if it does not it will miss out on an opportunity. It needs to harness the social and economic power this new form of leadership affords  For to understand and develop a new business leadership culture based upon influence and empowerment will bring with it a quantum change to the  long established way leadership is currently practised using some of the somewhat antiquated autocratic leadership theory.

PREPARING FOR A DIFFERENT FUTURE

Well we are in the doldrums economically; however we are not going to remain there as the human requirement to drive forward to seek better times begins to take effect. Quite simply when you are the bottom of a well you have two choices drown or start climbing and I believe that we are now beginning our ascent. So as we emerge into a brave new world that will be very different from all that has gone before how are we preparing for it?
Most businesses are anchored in the world of current balance sheets, reducing overheads and expenses, laying off staff and acquiring investment. All of which can have a severe negative impact on a business and its ethos,   few have had the sense to take stock of their position strategically and seize the moment. A former Prime minister who lived through harder times once said:
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty". – Winston Churchill
So how do we seize the current moment for sure the economic recovery will be slow and for sure the competition will be tough and getting tougher and better. So how do you stand out as an organisation that gives added value?
People buy from people, people do business with people so the answer is there: Develop your people in preparation for the new world, develop your people to take your organisation forward, develop your people to show that you care and are prepared to invest in their futures as well as your own. Customers not bosses are the ones who ultimately pay wages unless you are fortunate enough to have found a generous benefactor.
I am constantly amazed at the lack of preparedness of UK companies to train their staff to gain competitive advantage. UK companies normally train to conform to legislation. A bout 80% of training is paid for by government subsidies and the popular belief is that government funds training. Unfortunately most of this training is below NVQ level 3.  Companies don't train when they are busy- because there isn't the time and don't train when they are slack - because there isn't the money. Yet if an organisation wants to recover or better its market position in the face of improving competition now is the time to train. Now is the time to give staff the tool set and the culture to provide an organisation with the competitive advantage. Particularly in a future world that is quickly looking very different from the one that took us to the current recession. We have to do something positive to seize the opportunity.
As that same Prime Minister said:
“For myself I am an optimist- it does not seem to be much use being anything else” Winston Churchill

LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITY AND OWNERSHIP

The Rugby World Cup brings us a fine example of how not to lead and how a team can be successful despite its leader. Leadership has to exist at every level within a team if that team is going to perform consistently well. Leadership will influence and inspire team members to ever greater deeds. But leadership is about ownership and responsibility as well as empathy and understanding
Imanol Harinordoquy summed it up when he said the French team ignored coach Marc Lievremont at the World Cup because he was "lost". After Lievremont called some of his squad " spoiled brats" because they went against his instructions not to celebrate their Welsh victory.
"He was lost, I will not miss him," said number eight Harinordoquy. "It was our adventure. It was meant to be the nice experience of 30 men. We had to free ourselves from his supervision. He cast the stone at us too often. When something goes wrong, we're all in the same boat. There are no good or bad guys."
Great teamwork requires leadership to be inclusive rather than autocratic, developing a feeling of us rather than me and them. To do that trust has to be earned on both sides. Trust is earned more easily during testing, difficult and fallow times than it is when things are easy. Just look at the UK's national cohesion delivered by Hitler through the Second World War. Trust is hard earned but can be lost very quickly if empathy and understanding are missing.
The human phenomenon that is the catalyst of trust is effective communication.  Effective communication is open honest and not in any way ambiguous. And communication is about the effect on the receiver rather than the intended message of the sender. So again Empathy and understanding of the receiver’s position is key to effective communication.
Teams are made up of individuals who are entrusted by the team to carry out the roles and duties they are responsible for. So individual responsibility for performance is vital to performance, yet there is also a corporate responsibility held by the team. This is particularly so in professional sport where fan bases and even nations are watching expectantly. Professional sportsmen are no different from businessmen in terms of responsibility. It is here where modern society has a good deal to answer for in terms of allowing the derogation of responsibility. Responsibility is about accepting blame and accepting feedback and using both to foster improvement; all too often responsibility is offloaded like a hospital pass to the nearest source of external influence attributable to the action or behaviour. Externalising protects the weak but also prevents individuals from the identification and self realisation of the key areas requiring development. Sportsmen need to shoulder both individual and corporate responsibility.
Sports teams must be held accountable for all their results, not just the good ones. Sir Clive Woodward is a fine example of someone who built a team around him to deliver success and in that delivery every individual knew their role and owned their individual and the corporate result good or bad. An outstanding team is results oriented and every individual owns their contribution to that performance and owns the whole performance; leaders just as much as any other direct contributor. For that to happen leaders need not blame and carry out retribution but instead they need to honestly identify failure and weakness and coach and develop to influence improvement.
Leadership is all about ownership and responsibility wherever that leadership may be exercised. Self leadership through to corporate leadership entail responsibility and ownership.

THE VALUE OF LOCAL

As large organisations drive to centralise their logistics and bureaucratic processes they are pushing against an increasingly evident ecologically focused drive to reduce environmental footprints as the public becomes more aware of the issue.
Not only is the general public becoming greener in it’s conscience but decisions in personal procurement are starting to be influenced by this phenomenon. So what is the value of local?
Community and a sense of it is becoming more valued particularly in the more rural areas and also in townships. Empty shops, the demise of a post office, school, local shop, and youth club all directly affect an individual's life. How good does a retail street look with lots of "To Let" signs on the windows of empty shops? Communities revolve around areas where the locals collect. Communities come to the fore in times of hardship and do not prosper in times of plenty or large urban communities. A lack of a sense of community instils the sort of values that led to the wanton destruction witnessed during August this summer in the London Riots. Local is about community!
Environmental issues are affected in terms of a farming economy, a local wholesaler to a local retailer, if the complete production and retail process is controlled in a purely capitalist way. Locals go out of business, money is removed from the area and jobs are lost. Local facilities that drive local economies are vital to maintaining smaller communities.
Purely in terms of carbon footprint local involves less fuel, less machinery and therefore less carbon, less carbon means less carbon tax and less pollution. Local production is generally far less industrial and returns income to the local community. It helps our precious environment and maintains communities. Local prevents large retail organisations from killing the farming industry as they control prices in their focus on profit.
Next time you venture to a retail outlet just think of the damage you are doing to yourself and your community as you purchase a product that can be but has not been resourced from your local area.

WHAT ENGLAND RUGBY CAN LEARN FROM NEW ZEALAND

It seems incredible that a nation of only 4 million people can become the Rugby World Cup winners against teams with national populations of  England 50,000,000, France 65,000,000, South Africa 50,000,000  and Australia 22,000,000. How can such a small nation be so dominant and produce such a great team even without their top two game shapers- their fly halves. Some basics are required such as skill, brawn and athleticism but those are available throughout the professional rugby world. Discipline is key in terms of self discipline but again with the exception of England most world cup sides seemed to possess that.

I believe there are three areas that professional sport ignores at its peril and they are Vision, Leadership and Trust. With these three nurtured and developed over a considerable time comes global success and even dominance if they are maintained in a spirit and ethos of continuous improvement. All too often sport, like business, is so entwined in the engrenage of the here and now and not in the continuation of  a sporting cultural ethos. Just look at the way the media drives us to focus on the players within a  particular team rather than the genre of the sport as a whole. Players come and players go. Most successful sporting organisations focus on the future continuously and not on the here and now. New Zealand Rugby identifies its All Blacks early and nurtures them within the all black Culture. Manchester United do the same where possible. Look at the story of British Cycling. In 2001 British cycling set out to improve its standing in world track cycling and  it is now considered the dominant force in world cycling. At the Athens Olympics Great Britain came third in the cycling medal table. From 2004 to 2009, it came top of the medals tally for three out of six World Championships The team has vision which cascades through all its activities from equipment, psychology to performance and that success has naturally emigrated to road racing and downhill mountain biking.

Vision is key to long term sporting success for it fosters belief and drives athletes to greater performance. Seeing success and believing it is achievable is key to gaining that success. New Zealand set their sights on World Cup Success in 2011 four years earlier and delivered it. The whole nation bought into that vision and supported the team. Nacho Hernandez studied  New Zealand rugby and describes it as a "nation-wide passion for the sport, tradition, and a very proud sense of having a legacy that has to be protected, All this combined since the early days with a population mix that seems designed on purpose to make great rugby teams. Rugby is lived more as a religion than as a game. Prayer day is Saturday, and the temples are the hundreds of rugby fields across the country, filled from the earliest hours with families sharing their passion.It is this passion, I believe, that ultimately sets New Zealand rugby apart from the rest. Ultimately, I think that any player at the top level, or any kid who starts playing, dreams of playing one day for the All Blacks. The passion for rugby, the sport, in New Zealand goes hand in hand with the passion for the All Blacks, its trademark. The All Blacks are the tip of the iceberg; below them there is a very well organized pyramidal structure with a huge base of kids who start playing rugby at around the time they learn how to walk. From there, the best continue improving and going up the ladder, until the very best crop reaches the top," Vision and belief creates the environment of success.

Leadership in sport is strategically vital and again one has to compare the English Rugby Football Union and its current difficulties with the way that The New Zealand Rugby Union has embraced the professional rugby era. But leadership is required through all the tiers of the game and leadership needs to be exercised in a consistent and coherent way from on the pitch, through the club management, to the regions and the national committees. Examples need to be set and the higher the profile the more influential the example is.  For leadership behaviours generally migrate to lower levels as they cascade through an organisation. Leadership is also a tactical requirement on the field and the judgement calls and flexibility and freedom of action are critical to overall success particularly in tight games. Just look at the calmness and self belief of Richie McCaw in the final alongside the captaincy of Lewis Moody when under French pressure. Leadership is omnipresent and behaviours on and off the pitch are the ones that influence teams and team mates.

Trust is paramount to team cohesion and success and trust is key on any gladiatorial field that involves teams. Each member of a team has a part to play and each member must play that part and be trusted so to do. For it is when that trust breaks that teams break and begin to try and cover for each other. When that is happening a player cannot focus on their own role. Trust applies as much with coaches and players and coaches have to allow players to play. You don't drive a Ferrari like a tractor so don't try to. Let your stars perform as stars or don't pick them. Trust has to be earned it is not a given and trust has to be developed  through effective communication. Effective communication is about honesty and it is about respect for each other. Effective communication delivers results and does not shy away from any aspect that requires debate or feedback. Once it is there in place trust comes and with trust comes cohesion and with real cohesion comes success.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Effective communication is vital to success in modern business. Without it organisations fail and individuals go astray and become inadvertent saboteurs.
Effective communication involves moral courage, honesty and  the ability to give and receive feedback. Meetings that do not involve challenge and two way discussion are ineffective. The information passed may as well have been placed on a noticeboard. And yet all too often leaders waste such opportunities to benefit their organisations and develop their teams as effective communication is often misconstrued as challenging  a leader's authority rather than supporting it.
Leaders have to accept that their ideas and concepts will be challenged if they are to develop and improve those ideas and achieve greater outcomes. If a challenge can be rebuffed by the leader then the concept is strong. If a challenge causes the leader to refine the concept rather than doggedly pursue a failing concept then the concept is improved and the leader better respected for their judgement. So why avoid effective communication? It is only when such challenges become personal that the effect becomes negative in its orientation. If it is depersonalised then either way a challenge is positive.
Followership also requires  followers to be prepared to challenge a leaders plans and concepts for the betterment of an outcome. To sit and watch a leader fail or not deliver an outcome in the most effective way is tantamount to negligence and yet how many times have we seen it happen and indeed been involved in it ourselves? Followers just like leaders need to be honest and require the moral courage to challenge their leader's ideas and plans in order to improve them if they want their organisation to achieve greater things.
Effective communication is a two way street and a street that will only work if it is based in trust. All too often opportunities are missed because of a lack of trust and openness.  As humans are naturally competitive and some are more ambitious than others they use information as a source of power and control to the detriment of operational effectiveness. It is is the strong man that knows and exposes his weaknesses and it is the even stronger team that truly works together to ensure their individual vulnerabilities are not exposed. Mutual support ensures that the team is stronger in its completeness than the sum of all the strengths of the individuals who form it. Such a team has to derive its strength, honesty and openness from truly effective communication.

NEW BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

As businesses overcome the travails of the current economic downturn and as the world we work in becomes more complex and quicker, there is a strong need to review current thinking on leadership.  Leadership can no longer be just about an autocratic individual who heads up an organisation. And yet even the most successful organisations such as Hewlett Packard are still recruiting CEOs from without on reputation to try and lead the organisation. New leaders bring with them new cultures and new ways, they bring their past successes with them as baggage. However each situation, each organisation is different and it is the ability of a leader to impact and influence an organisation now that is so important ,not their previous record. We have to start considering a leader on the outcomes they have achieved through their followers rather than through their personal attributes. Leadership success is all based on gaining Followership.
Followership is about outcomes, it is about the leader, yes, but it is also about the organisation's culture and ethos, it is about the environment, it is about the situation, it is about anything that impacts on any outcome. Great leaders often pale and fade when they are removed from their most natural leadership environment. Look at Tony Blair, Winston Churchill before and after the war. History is littered with great men that have achieved because the time and environment is right for them. Yet in other environs they appear like fish out of water
A leader must fit the social identity of the group he or she leads. They must fit in and this is achieved most easily if they originate from within the said group. To impose a leader from without takes time and can cause a change in organisational ethos and culture. Trust is key for effective communication and effective communication is critical to good leadership and trust comes only when mutual understanding is present.
Trust is vital in the development of an organisation to its true potential. Trust allows the fettles of control to be released and hence the frees up each individual's potential within an organisation. Without trust the necessary speed of action required in modern business becomes impossible. With it an organisation can thrive and challenge itself into a cycle of continuous improvement. Leaders must create and preserve trust for it is with trust that the environment within an organisation enables true consideration of the environment without.
Protecting the natural environment we live in is a real tenet of modern business. It will not be long before disposing of a particular item will be more expensive than purchasing it! The social conscience of the developed world is awakening in a way that will challenge many of the ways we do business and leaders need to match that conscience if they are to create longevity within their organisation.
Profit will always be king, but profit may be measured in social equity rather than cash and it may soon be that the environmental costs are considered just too much for a market to bear.
Leadership development in such a changing and dynamic environment becomes awfully difficult. If an organisation is really to develop leaders for the future, rather than for the present, it has to give its leadership talent the skill sets to match the many different challenges and environments that may become reality in the future. No longer is leadership about just autocratic inspiration and individual attributes it is far more about inspiring and influencing those around you through trust and empowerment. Only then will an organisation maintain its competitive advantage over the long term.

ENGLISH RUGBY AND LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP

England against France in the quarter finals of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. Expectations high after France's dismal performance against Tonga, so what happened? I believe English sport has yet to learn some real leadership lessons that are applicable to business as much as they are sport.
The first one I call leadership and it is interesting in several perspectives when it comes to this performance. The coach was one of the best on field leaders English Rugby has produced. Martin Johnson was a true leader someone with presence who commanded respect from his players. He is still a character who is held in high regard within rugby circles and it is perhaps his presence that has had a debilitating effect on the development of pitch leadership. Leadership has to be present at every level within a team and players need to know when to follow and when to lead. There was a distinct absence of leadership on the pitch that disastrous match.
I saw a lack of passion amongst the England players that certainly was not evident amongst the French. Passion is inspired by vision; a vision of victory that drives belief and frees up players. It is key to an outstanding performance and that belief belonged to France on that day. I saw little evidence of the emotion and passion from the English team before, during and after the game which I believe was caused by their lack of belief.
For me sport is about dynamism it is about seizing the initiative and making your opponents react. For when they are reacting they are not focusing on their game and therefore not able to seize the initiative. England became predictable. England lacked that dynamism as they were constantly   reacting to the French and therefore unable to play their game. They were predictable ball out to Tuilagi and let him break through. He never did.
Pressure played its part as it caused some crucial mistakes in terms of decisions and handling errors. England lost several opportunities to score as because of such errors. Good leadership and mental toughness ensure that control is exercised in all areas of the game. I believe from the evidence in front of me that desperation came into England's game. Players must learn to handle international pressure through experiencing similar pressure in other environments!
Selection is always going to be controversial and it is here that I believe Martin Johnson needs to learn the Alex Ferguson lesson of knowing when to let players go and when to blood new talent. I believe despite the arrival of Tuilagi, Lawes and Youngs this side was picked too much on sentiment and old allegiances. Every boss needs to know how and when to nurture talent and when to let it go. For me Wilkinson, Moody and Tindall had gone a tournament too far.
Self control comes from self awareness and self control is key to team cohesiveness and victory. If each member of a team maintains that control and awareness they maintain their role in the team at that moment, if they lose control then the team begins to disintegrate. The second French try is a perfect example three players to one French attacker leaving an unmarked Frenchman and a gap for the try. Self awareness and team awareness in terms of what is my role for the team now are essential in international sport one error can be fatal.
My last comment is flexibility if something is not working there is no point in pursuing it. If you do what you always do you will get the result you always got. Match tactics and plans have got to be adaptable to the situation players have to understand several options if a team is to have the inherent flexibility to win major  tournaments. I thought England were one dimensional and that was the power dimension. When they came up against an equally powerful team they had nowhere to go.
So the key lessons for me for Rugby are:
Develop leadership at all levels,
Develop a winning vision,
Maintain the initiative,
Understand and minimise the impact of pressure,
Learn when to let go of players,
Develop player self awareness and role awareness
Maintain flexibility.
These are all lessons that are as applicable to business as they are sport and I believe the English Rugby Football Union needs to take a good hard look at its leadership development throughout the game.

LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP

There are several levels of leadership required within an organisation and certain levels are better undertaken by particular types of people. This means that the characteristics that best suit one level of leadership may not be so useful in another. Yet most organisations drive their leaders through the various tiers without acknowledging the different attributes and skills required.
Early leadership is generally measured on results. So a successful leader is one who achieves results. They tend to be task oriented and hard taskmasters who drive their teams forward. Great in a sales environment great when measured against targets and within results oriented organisations.
Yet as these leaders move away from the front line or coal face their attributes may become less applicable. Driving a small team in a tactical environment is very different from the people skills required to motivate and influence larger teams perhaps through their own team leaders rather than directly. Leading from a greater distance away is far more challenging and people oriented. No longer are the close in results the only requirement but getting teams to stay motivated and to contribute over the longer term becomes an issue.  Vision and strategy need to be developed and bought into People in these roles have to have developed their comprehension of social identity and leadership styles in order to be fully effective. They are divorced from quick results and move into a position where they have to lead people to generate long term results.
The ability to see and understand the big picture is often rare in leaders as they are too close in and results oriented. Organisations need to identify strategic high performers and nurture them in order to sustain and enhance their market position.
It is this sort of talent management that marks out the companies with genuine longevity.

HITTING THE WALL

Businesses appear to have a lifespan and it is only very powerful and agile businesses that survive through a paradigm shift. A fine example of failure is the American rail road businesses who believed they were invincible in the rail business rather than flexible in the transportation business! Woolworth's once one of the UK's strongest retailers suffered in the same way. So why do businesses only last so long?
Look at football clubs,  the only ones recently who have had longevity are Manchester  United and Liverpool although Liverpool's glory days were  along time ago. Are Manchester City and Chelsea future proof or just riding on the crest of a wave provided by a rich benefactor. What are the ingredients for longevity?
Having a strategy is key to longevity as it defines an organisations destiny, Key to strategy is vision which is an ability to assess where to position now for the long haul whilst identifying where the long haul leads. Vision is key in any strategy and unfortunately as businesses get entwined in the economics of the here and now vision is rarely evident in organisations. With vision comes risk management,  an organisation has to identify the threats that will challenge it on its journey and manage those challenges until they are small enough to deal with. Talent management is another key part of strategy particularly the development and retention of high performers. Organisations that map out their destiny using strategy shape themselves and their environments to achieve. Businesses that don't have a strategy will hit the wall.
When businesses are small and easy to control processes are less important,  however as a business grows processes become more and more important as they allow leaders and managers time to focus on strategic rather than tactical issues. Time spent in the weeds reinventing the wheel is ill spent time and costs businesses, however if processes are put in place and control delegated senior members of a business can begin to map out and shape the future of a business. Small businesses that remain without processes remain tactical, waste time and hit the wall.
Review and renewal are key to development just look at the Manchester United story when players such as Paul Ince, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona and David Beckham were sold or moved on to be replaced by fantastic talents. Manchester United are not afraid of renewing when necessary without sentimentality. So should a business be when necessary after all a business in only in business to satisfy its customer's needs rather than its worker's needs. Businesses need to know that they match their customers needs and regularly review their relevance. Businesses that are too internally focused and sentimental will hit the wall.

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

"There are too many leaders of the U.S. civilian space program, and not enough leadership. These several leaders at this point are not in agreement regarding how best to transition away from 30 years of the space shuttle being the visible centerpiece of the U.S. human space flight effort. Attempts at leadership without agreement among leaders are a recipe for short-term confusion and longer-term drift". a recent comment from the Washington Post which reflects the lack of strategic leadership as time, technology, politics and economics overtake the vision as the Shuttle Programme comes to an end.

"In more than 40 years of close observation of the U.S. space program, I don’t think there has ever been more uncertainty and fear of impending program collapse. One result of the current confusion is the too-widespread impression that  the final flight of the shuttle means that the U.S. program of human spaceflight has come to an end" writes John Logsdon.

So what is strategic leadership and how would it have prevented the infighting within the US's Space Programme and allowed it to carry on in a relatively seamless manner?

For me strategic leadership is about vision it's about long term projection and the ability to communicate a dream and make that dream tangible within an organisation. The problem with long term is the ambiguity induced by time. Things change over a period of time and things are changing faster than ever as the pace of life quickens. This makes strategic vision really difficult but really essential in leading an organisation.  More difficult as it is more intangible and it is more essential to hold an organisation on its course in a swiftly changing environment. Moral courage, drive and determination are all required in a strategic leader in shaping the future and taking an organisation forward.

Strategic leadership also involves risk and its mitigation. Risk is another thing that very few modern organisations have a handle on as evidenced in the recent US banking Crisis and even the more recent struggles with national debt within the European community. Risk involves three things the ability to identify future threats to an organisation, to put in place means of identifying the proximity of those threats and finally preparing strategies and plans to mitigate those threats. Now again the speed of life makes the management of risk much more difficult as the unforeseen happens in an instant. Take the recent riots in UK sparked by the police and the independent police complaints commission not dealing sensibly with the unfortunate death of a suspected criminal. Now a true strategic risk practitioner may not have seen that coming but surely they would have controlled the rioting in London sooner certainly before it spread to other cities or prevented it taking place in other cities by having contingencies in place. Threats need to be pre-empted if they are to be mitigated hence strategic managers of risk need to be aware of and sensitive to their changing environment through exploring worst case scenarios. This can be easily accomplished by modelling, gaming or red teaming. Thinking the unthinkable allows for effective contingency planning and aids risk mitigation.  Identified risk also needs to be communicated and devolved to as close to the action as possible, for it is here that the truly empowered and enlightened employee can prevent the threat.

Strategic Leadership is also about talent management; making sure that the right people is in the right place at the right time. Whether they have been nurtured or hired is irrelevant, it is ensuring that they are where they are needed.   I like the following quote as it epitomises talent management to me:

“The best leader is the one who has the sense to surround himself with outstanding people and the self restraint not to meddle with how they do their jobs” Author unknown

Don't talent manage people out of the organisation by telling them what to do and how to do it? Mentor and develop them to exploit their own individual potential and maximise their utility to the organisation by empowering them by telling them what you want done and affording them the authority and resources to do it! They will develop and learn even when wrong; now that's talent management!

Strategic leaders are brave; they are prepared to tolerate mistakes providing they are learned from. Strategic leaders are visionary and excellent communicators. Strategic leaders are risk takers but every risk they take is calculated and every threat mitigated as far is possible.  They believe in the power of the organisation rather than their own power. That's why true strategic leaders are rare creatures!

WHERE ARE THE LEADERS?

The public disturbances and rioting that is going on in London as I write this blog appear to be spreading to other cities across the country. The Prime Minister, Home Secretary and Mayor of London have all returned early from their holidays to provide leadership to a situation where a tragic death has allowed opportunistic petty criminals to exploit a situation which should have been controlled a good deal earlier.  Where are the leaders?

Leaders make decisions and influence decisions as Marshall Goldsmith stated "Every decision in the world is made by the person who has the power to make that decision - not the "right" person, or the "smartest" person, or the most “qualified" person, and in most cases not you. If you do not influence this person, you will not make a positive difference. Make peace with this. You will have a better life! And you will make more of a positive difference in your organization and you will be happier." It is up to members of the public, the police, the local communities and the national power structures to make decisions and influence decisions, to become leaders otherwise without such people a nation careers blindly and ignorantly towards anarchy. Basically it is about having the guts to lead!  Every bit of media reporting I hear or see blames someone else: it’s the rioters fault, it's the police's fault, its the Government’s fault. Now is not the time to blame but the time to come together as a community the time to replace selfish agendas with social ones perhaps it is even the start of Cameron’s “Big Society".  Leaders rise from such occasions, leaders influence and leaders take responsibility; they are the ones that will allow those who are perpetrating the crimes to see the error of their ways, they are the ones who will ensure that the right policing measures are put in place to prevent further escalation. They unfortunately seem to be conspicuous by their absence. I wonder where are the leaders to create harmony?

BUSINESS RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Who in business truly understands what risk is and how to manage it? Not many I would suggest given the recent crisis in banking and even fewer when it comes to managing national debt levels. Risk has to become better managed by businesses and politicians if we are to avoid the full effects of the current financial climate.

Risk is key to assessing opportunity as without risk business opportunities would not exist. Everything would be obvious and therefore every opportunity would be seized instantly without fear of failure. Well, human nature does not function that way! Humans are naturally risk averse, our survival instincts steer us away from perceived danger in order to protect us and in doing so they prevent us from exploiting opportunities using our innate intellect to manage and mitigate the risk. It is only when we are forced to take risks that we bring our excellent risk management potential to the fore.

However the national picture is somewhat different national risk now that's something we leave to the experts expecting them to use rigour and expertise in their deliberations. Unfortunately many of today's politicians are not expert and many are less than rigorous in their managing of national financial risk!  Some are just politically irresponsible scoring political points when there is a national debt crisis.

Personal opportunities exist in all our lives and yet we nearly always shy away from them. We want to be popular, we want to look good, and we want to conform and to be correct.  We want to be recognised and rewarded and those actualisations are normally associated with conformity rather than originality.  Yet being odd pays dividends in today's entrepreneurial world as risk takers reap the greatest rewards. Our herd instincts our desire for popularity drive the majority of us away from risk naturally and hence how many times have we not seized an obvious opportunity for fear of failure!

If as individuals we don't take risks there is very little chance of business organisations taking risk. The consequences don't just affect me but all those around me. I do not want to be blamed by those closest to me for strategic failure. Recently businesses have not needed to take risks hence risk mitigation is a lost art to many organisations. Yet business leaders are paid to judge and mitigate risk. Today's business leaders need to take risks and they need to understand those risks, to identify the warning signs that pre-empt failure. Life is risky and in extreme times life becomes more risky.  Yet as we enter a global recession no leader seems able to grasp the nettle and seize the opportunity; rather they would follow like lemmings other organisations into the economic precipice.

Politics are a totally different matter and it is here where some of the finest aspects of democracy are exposed as the desire to conform so necessary as an elected politician prevents daring and risk mitigating leaders from ever achieving political greatness. Bring on the benign dictator or the enlightened autocrat for they are the ones who will light the path to economic recovery. They would take risks and their enlightened approach would ensure that in exercising their judgement they had mitigated the risk to their people and managed it accordingly to ensure success.  As true leaders they would focus on success rather than avoiding failure. Tough times need tough decision makers who may not choose to conform. The only issue is democracy after all a leader cannot lead without the peoples’ mandate and yet the majority of the people will always vote for the politician or party who holds the middle ground.

Businesses are the same and businesses now need to be original in their strategic concepts if they are to lead others away from global recession. Strong leadership, strategic vision, opportunity exploitation and risk mitigation are all essential characteristics required of today's business and political leaders and yet they are the characteristics that have been absent when strategic failures are analysed.

TRUST RISK JUDGEMENT AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

How do people develop as leaders without the benefit of experiential learning? I meet so many coaches who claim to develop leadership within their coachees who have never been in leadership positions themselves. Their experience is based on learning from books and not in practice. I believe that three key attributes of a leader which cannot be developed without experience are developing trust, managing risk and exercising judgement.

An effective team has to trust its leader and trust each other if they are going to be cohesive in their disposition. How does a leader earn the teams trust without developing that trust through experience? Team members must identify their leader as trustworthy before they will trust them. It is the same with other team members. Trust has to be earned and it has to be earned through experience it cannot appear on order.

Leadership is about recognising risk and mitigating it as far as is possible. But like most things in life managing risk comes from experiencing life and experiencing risks. What risks are worth taking and what are not? Leadership and the management of risk are about the future they are therefore more of an art than a science as they cannot be prescribed. Risk management is about experience and the gut feel developed through the hard knocks of life.

Risk is exercising judgement and making the right calls comes from learned wisdom which is a combination of classroom and book aided learning and experiential learning and it is this rich combination that informs the great leaders. The combination and the ability to associate current circumstances with knowledge that allows the great leader the wisdom and judgement to effect change within an organisation in the right way at the right time.

Leadership can be learned from a book but it is a brave leader who reaches judgements based solely on non experiential learning. Most great leaders I have met and come across stretch their leadership through the combination of   non experiential and experiential learning mixed with the ability to hone their leadership through reflection and pre emption of the issues that will challenge their leadership.  You can't be a leader without feeling it! You can't be a leader without learning as you experience it!

IS YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGICALLY HEALTHY?

What is the strategic health of a business? Well it is its ability to learn and adapt to its current circumstances whilst shaping itself and its environment to ensure that it has a sustained competitive advantage.  Strategic health is about comprehending risk and developing strategy  whilst managing talent.

Any organisation must be fit for purpose in terms of the present but it must also become fit for purpose in the future and that requires strategic sense and leadership. It must be flexible and able to adapt to the prevailing market conditions.

An organisation has to be able to grow and develop both intrinsically and extrinsically. For growth does not necessarily require real estate it may be just in influence. An organisation that does not learn does not grow and that requires courage for it is the inevitable failures that generate eventual success. Therefore a healthy organisation must be prepared to fail and learn from that failure. A blame culture restricts learning!

Willpower and the ability to keep going even in the most arduous of times is key to a healthy organisation, providing the will is informed and monitored and the lessons valuable and it is not obsessive.

A healthy organisation needs to have a stretch capability and redundancy that allows it to rest and regenerate when it can whilst being able to generate power and surge when it needs to. The margins must not be too large that they become unaffordable yet an over lean organisation is an inflexible, one paced organisation that has little time for learning and initiative.

A healthy organisation is one that looks ahead, one that takes the lessons from the past to inform the future whist recognising the changes in its market environment. Strategically it is not entrapped in the present yet it is garnering, processing relevant information and imagining the future in order to adapt to it and shape it where it can.

Is your organisation strategically healthy?

SUCCESS AND LEADERSHIP

How important is leadership in relation to success? One 0f the key ingredients to organisational success is leadership. We have all seen successful organisations driven by the philosophy and drive of one key individual fail as that individual is replaced by someone else. We have all seen organisations that seem to carry on in perpetuity as leaders come and go. So what makes the difference? Richard Branson,   Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Bill Gates  and last but not least Steve Jobs all run or have all run globally important successful organisations in recent times. However Barclays, McDonalds, Disney and BP are also all successful global companies that have broken the shackles of an individual's leadership style and competence and still preserved their status.  Tesco’s after Sir Terry Leahy and now under Phillip Clarke are still in leadership transition that will bring many challenges particularly with consolidation after such rapid Global growth. The way that Phillip Clarke takes the organisation forward will be fascinating as we enter challenging financial times throughout the world apart from Brazil of course.

Organisations are all different and all have leaders who serve them in differing ways but success and leadership are linked and here are a few leadership aspects that ensure the maintenance of success within an organisation.

Key to any successful organisation is the understanding of its current position. How many organisations truly know where there current position vis a vis competition, product life span and commercial risk. Without a leader focused on understanding the bigger picture in terms of risk, succession and positioning an organisation can only have a short lifespan.

All businesses have an ethos/culture and it is important that if relevant that culture is preserved after all it is what got you there in the first place. Organisations that have a successful and relevant culture need to preserve it through induction procedures for new employees, succession plans to ensure those who have grown up within the organisation who understand its doctrine are its future leaders as they preserve the continuous inspiration afforded by that ethos/culture.

Every organisation needs a vision and the vision must be owned by all within the organisation. Vision is not the sole province of senior executives they are the custodians but for vision to be effective it must be owned by the people within. If it is it will generate self sustaining pulling power to drive the organisation to the achievement of its vision.

Within the vision are objectives which whist being aligned to the overall vision they must also be challenging and rewarding to those who are responsible to achieve them. They must be timely and measurable and they must be clearly understood.

Goals within objectives are simply tasks to fulfil and as tasks they also need to be inspiring and achievable. They also need clear boundaries and controls to keep them on track and the desired end state of the task must be easily recognised.

Now risk and leadership are particularly closely linked particularly in the more frugal times. A leader needs to know what the true risks the organisation is taking are; what are the warning signs and what are the implications should the worst case come to fruition. There are plenty of  recent examples of when this did not happen Zavi, Woolworths, RBS and then lets look at the US banking collapse in 2010 with 20 banks closing in two months with well over 100 closing in the year. Risk has moved up the leadership agenda and needs to be considered and understood at the highest levels.

Leadership is about the art of the possible it is not the science that management is as it is far more futuristic in its doctrine. It is about the use of experiential learning to influence and motivate people for the future and the challenges that brings. Management is a science and therefore based in the present and based on sound evidence. Let’s take targets as an example managers set targets to motivate and control performance. Leaders understand where the organisation is and ensure continuous improvement through effective inspiration, motivation and judgement.  Both are required in an organisation but for me the manager is the policeman for the leader, the person who keeps people on the successful track set by the leader.

EFFECTIVE SME COLLABORATION

Small to medium size enterprises are beginning to collaborate more and more. Such collaborative enterprises are beginning to challenge some of the bigger commercial organisations as co-operative ventures NISA, Mole Valley Farmers, The Co-Op are all examples of successful mutual collaboration. Now with customers becoming more and more environmentally sensitive and more concerned with the local impact of the big five supermarkets there is a growing opportunity for local collaborative work to truly challenge organisations with a large environmental footprint.

So if SME's wish to collaborate, what are the key tenets of effective collaboration? After all collaboration is simply working in a leaderless team!

Vision as ever is vital and it must be common. A shared and well communicated vision will hold collaboration together and empower those within it to achieve.

Trust Collaborators must trust each other. If they don't collaboration won’t work. Trust is two way and trust is important when there is no leader to arbitrate.  Trust allows the collaboration to be honest and forthright in its internal challenges without fear of dissolution. Trust also breeds respect and respect ensures that listening to and comprehending each other's point of view is part of everyday life.

Communication is the essential life blood of collaboration and it has to be effective without a leader to interpret messages. Communication in the early stages makes for stronger collaboration. That early communication is important in establishing members’ expectations and boundaries. For collaboration will crash without all those involved understanding each others expectations and boundaries. The most important part of communication is honesty in terms of being honest in what you will do and not what you may do! It is also vital to communicate any change in your intentions- for to announce that you haven't done something on the day you promised to deliver it breaks trust!

Clear Responsibility and Ownership boundaries are enhanced by clear delineation of responsibilities; they make for effective work and control and ensure accountability within an organisation. Ownership of issues and tasks has to be clearly understood by all those involved. And all those involved have to be prepared to accept responsibility and accountability.

Results Without outcomes which match or exceed expectations no collaboration can survive for long as members look to others to satisfy their ambitions.  A collaboration and the individuals within it must focus on results.

Well it’s easy really when you know how. Then why is it so difficult for SME's to achieve successful long term collaborations? Follow these simple principles and suddenly many doors and avenues of opportunity are opened.

Leadership-Self Sabotage and Self Awareness

Sometimes leaders just don't understand what the true consequences of their decisions and actions are. Self sabotage by leaders comes about through ignorance, over confidence,  omnipotent self belief and delusion. One only has to look at the musings of dictators as they come to the end of their terms in power to draw examples I rest my case with the current furore around FIFA. The problem is that rarely is an autocratic leader told the truth by subordinates. The confidence required to reach power can quickly become the confidence that ensures the fall from power.
Leaders need to have a trusted sounding board somewhere in their team such as  Josh Bolten, George W Bush's chief of staff,  who always tried to encourage others to be frank in front of the president."I took it as my role as chief of staff where an issue was truly presidential to insist that the disagreement be aired in front of the president in full glory. So I found myself needling cabinet officers and senior advisers and prodding them into taking the extreme form of disagreement that I knew existed outside the room to give the president a real chance to make a decision, and for the boss that I served." The role of trusted adviser becomes essential when in a crisis.
However that  sounding board has to remain enlightened and cannot become like the leader dizzy and deluded on power.  True "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and yet when one truly reflects on the great transformational leaders of our time they are some of the most humble: Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela. All possessed self awareness  and all possessed a deep understanding of humanity. Humble, yet their legacy is far more powerful and omnipotent than many of the organisational leaders made in our modern capitalist society.
I believe that self awareness in a leader is a rare talent. As people reach the upper echelons of power they begin to believe in their omnipotence they are constantly worshipped by their teams of obsequious followers who in themselves are dependent upon the leader to preserve their own social status. A study done by Coopers and Lybrand a few years ago indicated that when asked CEO's indicated that only ll% of their employees believed they were taking risks to deliver any bad news up the chain. However, the middle managers felt differently. 33% said bad news in their company (Fortune 500) was a career limiting risk and 50% of lower level employees agreed with the middle managers
A leader who reflects on personal actions and decisions, one who rejoices in their teams achievements and not their own; a leader who empowers their people without pomp and ceremony;  one who recognises the fragility and weaknesses of being human in themselves and all those around them is the real thing. For it is to them and only them that the true trust  of followership is given.
Self awareness whether self-induced or externally initiated is key to keeping a leader straight and true for self-sabotage can easily slip into a leaders repertoire without it. And when it does there will inevitably be a fall as the leader arrogantly chooses the wrong path.

CAN YOU BE A LEADER IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ORGANISATION

A common fallacy is that leadership starts from the top. Leadership can start from anywhere and we have all been in organisations where one well led department succeeds far more than others. Great when you are part of that success but not so if you are without it.  The leaders at the top of the organisation will shape the culture of the organisation and inevitably those leaders that reflect the bosses behavioural traits will succeed. But results cannot be ignored. Great leaders get great results and get noticed. Great results in the middle can cause an organisation to improve as a whole by it replicating and adopting those leadership practices throughout the organisation.
You most certainly can be an excellent leader within a mediocre organisation and get on providing you don't become too much of a threat to the hierarchy. It is therefore a balancing act keeping the bosses sweet whilst maximising the effect of the team. Now really clever bosses will exploit good leadership to the benefit of the whole organisation and will endeavour to maintain the services of such leaders. Bosses who feel inadequate and threatened will sabotage such leaders. Walt Disney was a fine example of someone who truly valued good people and someone who enjoyed employing people who were better than him. Ronald Reagan built a fantastic team around him during his time as US President. Both shaped teams but both had great leaders below them.
Leadership doesn't have to start at the top and that tardy excuse that I can't be a leader in the middle of an organisation holds no truth. Leadership occurs wherever someone is responsible for inspiring and motivating others. The choice of that individual is how they do it? Well or badly; but the real ability of the successful leader is to balance the needs of superiors with those of the team whilst achieving outstanding results.

Can You Manage Change?

Change management is a term all too frequently used in the modern business world. Most humans are averse to change as they naturally fear the unknown and prefer to remain within their comfort blanket. So how do you manage something that requires leadership to inspire and motivate people to move from their current comfortable position.
Change is all about leadership it is about vision and it is about the unknown. Managers deal in the real world of today and not the inspired  and virtual one of tomorrow. Managers deal in targets and targets are difficult to set for an unknown in the future.  Change cannot be managed it has to be led!

THE DUTIES OF A LEADER

So you think you are a leader? Well how good a leader are you?

A good leader is dedicated, for to inspire and motivate a team you have to be. But how good are you at all the various sometimes unpleasant duties of leadership? For leadership is a duty and not a bauble to aspire to.

Moral courage is the primary characteristic for without it you walk by things that you really should own. And if you walk by, every single member of your team learns to walk by as well and n0 one owns the issue - so it festers . As a leader you must always have the moral courage to own an issue however unpleasant the consequences may be.

Honesty is critical to success as a leader and it is being honest with yourself and your team. Sugar coating only lasts so long and it is something that doesn't always work particularly if it is over used.

A leader sets the example and if they are respected that example becomes the norm for the team. A leader who demands punctuality and regularly arrives late destroys their own leadership potential.

A leader is watched all the time they continually communicate. Leadership is not something you can switch off and on.  A leader communicates even by ignoring someone or something and leaders have to be continually aware of how and what they are communicating.

Leaders must be the bearer of bad news. When it comes to delivering it to the team it is a task that cannot be delegated. If it is delivered honestly and compassionately the message is not distorted and the effects can be monitored and reactions controlled. If it is delegated a leader succumbs to the rumour mill and all its toxicity.

Leaders make judgements and decisions they don't avoid them. But leaders can't afford to make too many bad judgements otherwise they will erode their credibility.

Leaders need to deliver they cannot rest on their laurels leadership brings with it a duty to deliver regularly.

Leaders must show equality even when they don't like team members they must treat them equally. One famous coach stated that he didn't like his team all the same but he loved them all the same.

Being a great leader may bring rewards but it is far more about servitude and duty than ever it is about status and reward.

MEASURING LEADERSHIP EFFICACY

As a leader how well do you do? Easy ask your workforce and generally if you, the leader, ask they will tell you the good bits that you do well. But how often do people tell their bosses their weaknesses? It is not generally a career enhancing move and if it does happen it happens because of high emotion or alcohol when it is delivered in its least effective way.
So how can a leader measure their effectiveness? Leadership cannot  be easily quantified as there are so many variables that need to be brought into the equation and as leadership is about motivating and inspiring many of the calls are qualitative rather than quantifiable in their measurement.
As leaders generally have some form of control over those they lead few people are rarely honest about their boss. I think David Ogilvy's quote on market research is never more true than when asking about someone's boss.
"The trouble .............is that people don't think how they feel, they don't say what they think and they don't do what they say."
People seem to develop an allegiance to their leader and this allegiance is often achieved in the early days of a leadership relationship when a group accepts a leader. However, once the leader is established the group begins to follow the leader unquestioningly and that is why so many strong and good intentioned leaders so often inadvertently stray from the path of righteousness.
Leaders need challenge if they are to be at the peak of their game and that challenge has to test their mettle.  The problem is most of us find challenge uncomfortable and we normally rid ourselves of those who challenge us for fear of being usurped.
So leaders have difficulty with challenge from within the team; therefore perhaps self challenge is the answer? Well it is if you are able to keep it up, but we all know from our physical training that we are generally much more effective when we are encouraged and cajoled to greater effort. So perhaps a challenging mentor is the answer, but a mentor can be expensive and some are better than others. They also need to really understand the issues if they are to challenge effectively.
Leaders need to be able to be challenged and the safest challenge is an inanimate challenge that can be achieved through an effective means of measuring leadership efficacy.  A measurement that includes objective and subjective data and one that assesses a leader and their effect.
We at Sampson Hall have developed such a tool that is non-judgemental, a tool that identifies opportunities within an organisation, a tool that measures and tracks progress, a tool that enables the diagnoses of the causes of a situation rather that just treating the symptoms that manifest themselves.