Leadership always in need of review

In common usage, leadership generally refers to:

• The position or office of an authority figure, such as a Managing Director;
• A position or office associated with technical skill or experience, as in a team leader or a chief engineer;
• A group of influential people, such as a union leadership;
• Guidance or direction, as in the phrase "the emperor is not providing much leadership;"
• Capacity or ability to lead, as in the phrase "she exercised effective leadership."

While it is easy to suggest that many business enterprises lack leadership, it is probably true that many managers, manage quite well but find true leadership challenging.

Leadership always has been a key differentiator between successful and unsuccessful organisations.

Leadership style refers to the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. There are normally three main styles of leadership:

• Authoritarian or autocratic
• Participative or democratic
• Delegative or Free Reign

Many successful businesses are conducted with a strong authoritarian or autocratic style, yet, among employees and management consultants alike, it seems that the participative or democratic modes of leadership are most popular.

Essentially, the participative and democratic style of leadership involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process. However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not normally considered a sign of weakness, rather it is a sign of strength that employees almost always respect.

The participative or democratic style of leadership is most commonly used in situations where the leader has part of the information, and the employees have other parts. Using this style is of mutual benefit -- it allows the employees to become more fully part of the team and enables the leader to make better decisions.

No matter what style of leadership is embraced, for all leaders, success in today's complex global arena is challenging and the rules are changing.

For an organisation to compete globally, executive leaders have to create an organisational culture in which everyone is challenged to seek innovative and improved methods of doing business. Leading today's organisation into tomorrow's competitive arena increasingly requires teamwork, collaboration and speed.

To create and lead an organisation that will maintain a competitive advantage during such turbulent times, many executives will have to transform an organisational culture that was founded on yesterday's paradigms. Priorities will have to shift and thinking will have to change.

Of course, one of the problems that many leaders have relates to communication. Faulty communication often leads to confusion and can cause a good plan to fail.

Everyone knows that communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another. Obviously, effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit.

For leaders, studying the communication process is important because it is through excellent communication that a leader can coach, coordinate, counsel, evaluate, and supervise. It is the chain of understanding that integrates staff members from top to bottom, bottom to top, and side-to-side.

A management tool that has been introduced over the last ten years is the “360-degree feedback tool” and this is something that can help monitor leadership throughout an organisation. 

When applied across all levels of an organisation, the results reflect not just leaders but leadership styles. If the results are checked carefully, the 360-degree feedback tool can give senior management an indication of where leadership is appearing through the ranks.