Leadership and Organisational Change
Inconsistency in sending messages about the future of the company or about the future of employees could result in miscommunication and misinterpretation. Great leadership is crucial, especially when an organisation is changing. When companies show good leadership (so that it is clear in which direction the company is heading) and make sure that employees show enough energy to perform, it makes the difference in either being just good or great.
But then... what is great leadership? It obviously depends on the industry you are in, the organisational stage you are in and your company’s culture. Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. A definition more inclusive of followers comes from Alan Keith of Genentech who said "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." Others have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence among others. Many people have written about leadership and they have probably given you a lot of tools to work with. One of the most sold management books of 2008 is ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins. In Chapter 2, Jim Collins writes about Level 5 leaders.
“Level 5 leaders want to see the company even more successful in the next generation, comfortable with the idea that most people won’t even know that the roots of that success trace back to their efforts. As one Level 5 leader said, “I want to look out from my porch at one of the great companies in the world someday and be able to say, ‘I used to work there.’ ” In contrast, the comparison leaders, concerned more with their own reputation for personal greatness, often failed to set the company up for success in the next generation. After all, what better testament to your own personal greatness than that the place falls apart after you leave? In over three quarters of the comparison companies, we found executives who set their successors up for failure or chose weak successors, or both. Some had the “biggest dog” syndrome—they didn’t mind other dogs in the kennel, as long as they remained the biggest one. One comparison CEO was said to have treated successor candidates “the way Henry the VIII treated wives.” 1
To give you another snap shot of the brain of the management gurus amongst us: Stephen Covey. Covey talks about the four imperatives of leadership. 2
The first is to inspire trust. You build relationships of trust through both your character and competence and you also extend trust to others. You show others that you believe in their capacity to live up to certain expectations, to deliver on promises, and to achieve clarity on key goals. You don’t inspire trust by micromanaging and second guessing every step people make.
The second is to clarify purpose. Great leaders involve their people in the communication process to create the goals to be achieved. If people are involved in the process, they psychologically own it and you create a situation where people are on the same page about what is really important—mission, vision, values, and goals.
The third is to align systems. This means that you don’t allow there to be conflict between what you say is important and what you measure. For instance, many times organisations claim that people are important but in fact the structures and systems, including accounting, make them an expense or cost center rather than an asset and the most significant resource.
The fourth is the fruit of the other three—unleashed talent. When you inspire trust and share a common purpose with aligned systems, you empower people. Their talent is unleashed so that their capacity, their intelligence, their creativity, and their resourcefulness is utilised.
It does not really matter what theory or instrument you use. As long as there is enough alignment amongst managers and staff. To put things very simply, Effectory believes that direction (great leadership) is not the only thing that drives performance. Energy is the second element. As long as your staff are motivated and engaged, leadership will be much more effective. The combination results in great organisational performance.
Effectory facilitates organisations in conducting employee surveys. With regard to leadership, Effectory makes a perfect diagnosis to see where the gaps are that hold you back from great leadership. For more information about our leadership survey click here.
1 Source: J. Collins, Good to Great
2 S. Covey, The Four imperatives of leadership
More: Employee survey, Employee surveys, Leadership, Performance, Reorganisation, Staff, Success