Leadership – self-aware and inspiring
As many of you will be aware I have been writing many articles about the leadership crisis we currently face.
Identifying and developing talent
Much has been based on research from Development Dimensions International (DDI) captured in their report “Global Leadership Forecast 2023” and the continuing study that commenced in June 2020 from Top10VPN on the global demand for employee surveillance software. Both these sources revealed we have a leadership crisis.
There is now another piece of research undertaken by McKinsey called “The State of Organisations 2023.” This too tells us we have a leadership crisis. McKinsey surveyed over 2,500 business leaders around the world. The report includes a narrative on ten shifts that are transforming organisations and what to do about them.
One of those shifts is called, “Leadership that is self-aware and inspiring.”
One only one-quarter of survey respondents see their leaders as inspirational and fit for purpose. The results are shown in the following diagram.
If only 25% of respondents believe that leadership is not inspirational or fit for purpose, I suggest this is further evidence of a leadership crisis.
The need for change
Leaders simply cannot stick with the approaches that have worked for them in the past. They must rethink and change the way they lead.
There are stakeholder expectations that organisations are not only accountable for achieving profit and sustainability goals, but also for employees who may feel demotivated, overwhelmed, or unable to bring their best to the workplace.
McKinsey suggests that for today’s leaders, the essential task comes in three layers.
Leaders need to be able to lead themselves; they need to be able to lead a team of peers in the C-suite; and they need to be able to exhibit the leadership skills and mindset to lead at scale, coordinating and inspiring networks of teams and ensuring that their organisation functions as a cohesive whole.
I think the words in the McKinsey report sum up the challenge.
“That’s a big ask of any single human.”
But that is not to say leaders should not rise to the challenge. They must. Good leadership at every level of the organisation is critical to employee experience which in turn drives the customer experience. It is imperative to organisational survival. But they do not have to do it alone.
The survey respondents indicated obstacles that are preventing their organisations from switching their leadership styles. These are shown in the following diagram.
McKinsey state that leaders need to have a keen awareness of themselves and the operating environment around them. Leading yourself, leading a team, and leading at scale, are the new watchwords for inspiring leadership.
In this newsletter, I want to share my thoughts on the perceived barriers to achieving leadership that is self-aware and inspiring, and the three aspects of inspiring leadership noted by McKinsey.
Barriers
Respondents to the McKinsey survey identified six barriers preventing a change in leadership styles in their organisations.
1. Lack of incentive (financial and non-financial)
2. Lack of mid- and long-term strategies (short-term focus only)
3. Insufficient leadership training
4. Lack of leadership capabilities and skills
5. Lack of role models within organisations
6. Cultural barriers
I am going to group 3, 4, and 5 into one barrier as I believe that if you provide sufficient training and invest in developing the capabilities and skills that leaders need, you build role models for the future.
Lack of incentive
Incentives are often solely based on financial results. I firmly believe that incentives should be based on the results and how the results were achieved. This encourages leaders to change as scaling the learning curve becomes worth it.
Organisations addressing the challenges must consider ways in which to reward managers for baseline performance – the numbers – but to also look at performance that upholds the values of the business. The second consideration is the larger team or entire organisation which incentivises collaboration outside of the leader’s immediate span of control. The third area looks at demonstrated behaviours that align with the leadership capabilities and skills required to lead into the future.
Here is an example from Kronos.
Kronos transformed their managers’ capability by introducing a Manager Effectiveness Index (MEI), which consisted of codifying the role of managers and measuring their effectiveness. The company turned their employees’ performance process upside down by asking its employees to rate their managers’ performance and effectiveness twice a year. 60% of a manager’s bonus is based on financial performance and 40% is based on leadership skills.
Non-financial incentives or motivations can include public and private recognition and appreciation, rewards based on the manager’s interests, time off (outside of annual leave), and experiential rewards.
Lack of mid- and long-term strategies
Many leaders only short-term strategies – that is they do not have enough time to dedicate to development and only focus on the development they need in a given moment.
Many organisations only focus on short-term strategies, as those accountable for learning and development, struggle to find the time and resources to think beyond immediate needs.
Organisations must focus on mid- and long-term strategies.
What are the business drivers and the top three to five most critical leadership skills that will be needed to drive the strategic priorities of the organisation? You will need a leadership competency framework that identifies the skills and capabilities needed by leaders in the organisation to achieve the goals of the organisation.
There are many examples of competency frameworks that you can draw on. Remember that the framework needs to be built on the organisation’s strategy and the competencies are well-defined based on observable behaviours. It is only by being measurable that leaders can receive feedback on their performance of the competency and shortcomings addressed. The framework must also support the conduct of a gap analysis to determine the skills and capabilities that are missing from the organisation and need to be developed internally or acquired externally.
The framework must also differentiate between the skills and capabilities needed by leaders at each level of the organisation e.g., frontline leaders and C-suite leaders.
The framework must be updated as often as the business strategy changes.
Lack of leadership training, development, and role models
Leadership training and development must be a given in every organisation. Leadership development can be a challenge, especially during times of change, transformation, and disruption which are the common states of affairs these days.
The key thing to remember is there is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development. Every person is different with different learning styles and preferences. Therefore, learning and development must be offered in various guises that suit learning styles. This could include coaching, developmental assignments, formal in-person training, online instructor-led courses, group-based simulations, on-demand online learning, and more.
Learning must be relevant. It must meet the challenges that your leaders are facing today
You must be able to measure the results of your leadership development. Did it improve performance? Did it change behaviours? Did it build knowledge? Was it enjoyable?
When leaders have undertaken training and development and implemented the changes to become the leader, they and the organisation need them to be, they can be role models for change and leadership in the organisation. They set an example for others to follow. They set high standards of accountability for themselves and their behaviours. They motivate and empower others.
Cultural barriers
Leadership development must be an integral part of the organisation’s culture and values. In many organisations, there is a focus on employee development which seems to stop when an employee takes up a leadership position. Jacob Morgan did research that revealed that most people become leaders in their mid to late 20s but don’t get formal leadership training until their late 30s or early 40s. That means leaders oversee people for more than a decade without any leadership training!
As Morgan says, if you are asking the question “When is the right time to start training future leaders?” – it's probably too late.
Everyone must have access to leadership training and development opportunities. There must be investment and commitment to embedding a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the organisation and removing of any barriers to accessing leadership training and development.
Learning and development should be a way of working.
Inspiring leadership
Leaders must inspire.
Leading yourself
Leaders must possess emotional intelligence and be emotionally self-aware. They understand their own emotions and their effects on their performance. They have an accurate sense of their strengths and limitation. They have clarity of purpose and their values.
Leaders must be able to self-manage which means they can control impulsive feelings and behaviours, manage their emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing conditions.
With self-awareness and the ability to self-manage, leaders are better equipped to tap into their passions, renew their energy, and help others, and their organisation to achieve full potential.
Leading a team
Leaders must move from a position of command and control to one of being an orchestrator, coach, and collaborator. They serve as a catalyst for empowering networks of teams, they drive connection and lead with transparency, and inclusiveness.
They establish an environment of psychological safety for their teams. Every member of the team believes that they will not be punished, or humiliated for speaking up with ideas questions, concerns, or mistakes, The leader creates a shared expectation that team members will respect each other, and not embarrass, reject, or punish others for sharing ideas, taking risks, or soliciting feedback.
When they do this, leaders create a condition in which all team members can contribute to their full potential.
Leading at scale
Leading at scale means breaking down silos and building an environment of a team of teams. Teams work on multiple initiatives in parallel and are driven by experimentation, innovation, creativity, and discovery.
The leader empowers and enables teams to be resilient and adaptable in the face of contract change,
Leading at scale means connecting teams and building a network of collaboration that delivers impact and value.
Wrap
It is time to be intentional about leadership development and growth for competitive advantage.