Mullins L.J. Management and organisational behaviour, Seventh edition

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However, the extent to which charismatic or inspirational leadership helps bring about

improvement in organisational performance is open to much debate. For example, Conger

also draws attention to the danger that the leader’s vision, dynamism and inspirational

nature are highly attractive to followers, which leads to a natural dependence. Staff see this

extraordinary figure as a model to be emulated and the leader’s abilities become the yard-

stick by which they measure their own performance. This is a potential source of

leadership derailment. Dependence makes the followers more susceptible to deception.

CHAPTER 8 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

305

Improvement in

organisational

performance

The National Health Service is currently facing the chal-

lenges of the most significant change since its inception.

It was built on traditional models of leadership and

beliefs that ‘managers’ should manage, and doctors and

nurses should provide clinical care. The NHS has survived

numerous structural changes in the last fifty years but none

have fundamentally challenged that philosophy. Clinical

leaders were encouraged to take senior roles in the leader-

ship of their specialist clinical areas (the Director of

Nursing, etc.), but the function of managing the ‘business’

(financial resources, human resources, strategic planning,

etc.) was always perceived as being safe in the hands of

the professional ‘general manager’. Occurrences of clini-

cians moving into senior general management positions

were rare and usually involved them in divesting them-

selves of their clinical roles.

In the 21st century it is now recognised that the NHS

needs fundamental modernisation in the way it develops

strategic plans, determines priorities, allocates and man-

ages resources and manages performance and quality

improvement.

The media have drawn the public’s attention to quality fail-

ures, clinical negligence, and inequity in resource allocation

and recruitment and retention difficulties. The Government’s

modernisation agenda challenges the NHS to:

■ improve collaborative, integrated working across all

agencies and professions in the system;

■ move from a system focused around the clinical ‘expert’

to a consumer-centred service;

■ introduce a learning culture both within professional

groupings and organisations; a major shift away from

the prevalent ‘blame’ culture;

■ implement innovative approaches to the delivery of

health and care.

Above all, this requires a new model of management and

leadership in the NHS. The NHS needs to develop leaders

who have credibility with clinicians and can inspire and

motivate, an often-demoralised workforce, to own and

drive continual change. The simplistic model of the past –

managers plan and allocate the resource while clinicians

control and spend the resource is no longer tenable.

The NHS needs to develop outward facing managers

and clinicians who can lead system-wide change across

the NHS.

Writers in the field of leadership have refocused. The

early writers often interpreted leadership as an authority rela-

tionship, referred to as management. This is now referred to

as Transactional leadership. The new model leadership is

that of the Transformational leader; a process of influencing

followers or staff for whom one is responsible, by inspiring

them towards the ‘vision’ of some future state.

The ideas of the Transactional and Transformational

leader are pertinent to the development of leaders in the

new NHS. Many NHS organisations have encouraged and

rewarded Transactional managers. These leadership qual-

ities may have been appropriate in the NHS of the last

century when managers were leading complex organisa-

tions in a more predictable and static environment. What is

needed now? A group of leaders for tomorrow’s NHS who

share a set of common values and act as a leadership

community, who can lead confidently in clinical areas, who

understand how to run a patient-centred service;

who deliver continuous performance improvement and who

reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.* Above

all what is needed are leaders who can provide strategic

direction to and inspire a complex workforce in an environ-

ment that is turbulent, ever changing and difficult to predict

(Transformational leaders).

To achieve the leadership community that will take the

NHS successfully into the 21st century will require an inte-

grated approach that is adequately resourced to:

■ Provide education and development for the leaders of

tomorrow,

■

Achieve a shift in culture to develop learning organisations,

■ Break down the barriers that exist between manage-

ment and clinical leadership model,

■ Restructure NHS organisations to place decision-

making closer to patients and clinicians.

The NHS is undergoing a fundamental rethink of its tradi-

tional leadership and management models. It needs to

move from a position that believes ‘managers’ should lead

and manage, to one where ‘leaders’ (whether clinicians or

managers) provide strategic vision and leadership, and

managers support them in the implementation and opera-

tionalisation of strategic vision and plans.

* Internal Paper from Hugh Taylor, Director of Human Resources, NHS

Executive (2000).

(I am grateful to Anne Tofts, Director, Healthskills, for providing the above

information.)

Developing leadership in the NHS of the 21st century

EXHIBIT 8.1

Dearlove draws attention to the increasing focus on leaders as real people managing

in a consensus-seeking manner. ‘While traditional views of leadership tend eventually

to concentrate on vision and charisma, the message now seems to be that charisma is

no longer enough to carry leaders through.’

Bloomfield also refers to the cult of the

individual, supposedly charismatic leader and the danger that this leads businesses into

deep water far more often than the application of rational leadership. Too often, aided

and abetted by the language of current management fashion the charismatic leader,

‘inspires’, to delight with their vision, to produce a mission statement of where the

business might be – at the expense of real substance.

Within an organisation, leadership influence will be dependent upon the type of

power that the leader can exercise over the followers. The exercise of power is a social

process which helps to explain how different people can influence the behaviour/

actions of others. Five main sources of power upon which the influence of the leader is

based have been identified by French and Raven as reward power, coercive power, legiti-

mate power, referent power, and expert power.

We shall consider these in terms of

the manager (as a leader) and subordinate relationship.

■ Reward power is based on the subordinate’s perception that the leader has the ability

and resources to obtain rewards for those who comply with directives; for example,

pay, promotion, praise, recognition, increased responsibilities, allocation and

arrangement of work, granting of privileges.

■ Coercive power is based on fear and the subordinate’s perception that the leader has the

ability to punish or to bring about undesirable outcomes for those who do not comply

with directives; for example, withholding pay rises, promotion or privileges; allocation

of undesirable duties or responsibilities; withdrawal of friendship or support; formal

reprimands or possibly dismissal. This is in effect the opposite of reward power.

■ Legitimate power is based on the subordinate’s perception that the leader has a right to

exercise influence because of the leader’s role or position in the organisation.

Legitimate power is based on authority, for example that of managers and supervi-

sors within the hierarchical structure of an organisation. Legitimate power is

therefore ‘position’ power because it is based on the role of the leader in the organ-

isation, and not on the nature of the personal relationship with others.

■ Referent power is based on the subordinate’s identification with the leader. The leader

exercises influence because of perceived attractiveness, personal characteristics, repu-

tation or what is called ‘charisma’. For example, a particular manager may not be in

a position to reward or punish certain subordinates, but may still exercise power

over the subordinates because the manager commands their respect or esteem.

■ Expert power is based on the subordinate’s perception of the leader as someone who is

competent and who has some special knowledge or expertise in a given area. Expert

power is based on credibility and clear evidence of knowledge or expertise; for ex-

ample, the expert knowledge of ‘functional’ specialists such as the personnel

manager, management accountant or systems analyst. The expert power is usually

limited to narrow, well-defined areas or specialisms.

Finlay suggests that in addition to the five sources of power identified by French and

Raven can be added:

■ Personal power, supported and trusted by their colleagues and subordinates; and

■ Connection power, which results from personal and professional access to key

people and information.

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PART 3 THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER

POWER AND LEADERSHIP INFLUENCE

It is important to note that these sources of power are based on the subordinate’s per-

ception of the influence of the leader, whether it is real or not. For example, if a leader

has the ability to control rewards and punishments but subordinates do not believe this,

then in effect the leader has no reward or coercive power. Similarly, if subordinates in a

line department believe a manager in a (different) staff department has executive

authority over them then even if, de facto, that manager has no such authority there is

still a perceived legitimate power.

French and Raven point out that the five sources of power are interrelated and the

use of one type of power (for example, coercive) may affect the ability to use another

type of power (for example, referent). Furthermore, the same person may exercise dif-

ferent types of power, in particular circumstances and at different times.

According to Yukl, the research on power and influence is still too limited to provide

clear and unequivocal guidelines for leaders on the best way to exercise their power.

However, utilising terminology from French and Raven’s taxonomy, he provides a set of

guidelines on how to build and maintain power, and to use it effectively to influence

attempts with peers or superiors.

(See Table 8.1.)

Whatever the perceived approach to leadership, the most important point is the nature

of the leadership relationship and the manner in which the leader influences the

behaviour and actions of other people.

Leadership is a dynamic form of behaviour and there are a number of variables

which affect the leadership relationship. Four major variables are identified by

McGregor as:

■ the characteristics of the leader;

■ the attitude, needs and other personal characteristics of the followers;

■ the nature of the organisation, such as its purpose, its structure, the tasks to be per-

formed; and

■ the social, economic and political environment.

McGregor concludes that ‘leadership is not a property of the individual, but a complex

relationship among these variables’.

According to Kouzes and Posner, ‘credibility is the foundation of leadership’. From

extensive research in over 30 countries and response to the question of what people

‘look for and admire in a leader, in a person whose direction they would willingly

follow’, people have consistently replied that they want:

leaders who exemplify four qualities: they want them to be honest, forward-looking, inspiring

and competent. In our research our respondents strongly agree that they want leaders with

integrity and trustworthiness, with vision and a sense of direction, with enthusiasm and passion,

and with expertise and a track record for getting things done.

CHAPTER 8 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

307

Subordinates’

perception of

influence

You have to look at leadership through the eyes of the followers and you have to live the

message. What I have learned is that people become motivated when you guide them to

the source of their own power and when you make heroes out of employees who personify

what you want to see in the organisation.

Anita Roddick

Guidelines for

building using

power

THE LEADERSHIP RELATIONSHIP

308

PART 3 THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER

How to increase and maintain power How to use power effectively

Legitimate power:

■ Gain more formal authority. ■ Make polite, clear requests.

■ Use symbols of authority. ■ Explain the reasons for a request.

■ Get people to acknowledge authority. ■ Don’t exceed your scope of authority.

■ Exercise authority regularly. ■ Verify authority if necessary.

■ Follow proper channels in giving orders. ■ Be sensitive to target concerns.

■ Back up authority with reward and ■ Follow up to verify compliance.

coercive power. ■ Insist on compliance if appropriate.

Reward power:

■ Discover what people need and want. ■ Offer desirable rewards.

■ Gain more control over rewards. ■ Offer fair and ethical rewards.

■ Ensure people know you control rewards. ■ Explain criteria for giving rewards.

■ Don’t promise more than you can deliver. ■ Provide rewards as promised.

■ Don’t use rewards in a manipulative way. ■ Use rewards symbolically to reinforce

■ Avoid complex, mechanical incentives. desirable behaviour.

■ Don’t use rewards for personal benefit.

Expert power:

■ Gain more relative knowledge. ■ Explain the reasons for a request or proposal.

■ Keep informed about technical matters. ■ Explain why a request is important.

■ Develop exclusive sources of information. ■ Provide evidence that a proposal will be

■ Use symbols to verify expertise. successful.

■ Demonstrate competency by solving difficult ■ Listen seriously to target concerns.

problems. ■ Show respect for target (don’t be arrogant).

■ Don’t make rash, careless statements ■ Act confident and decisive in a crisis.

■ Don’t lie or misrepresent the facts.

■ Don’t keep changing positions.

Referent power:

■ Show acceptance and positive regard. ■ Use personal appeals when necessary.

■ Act supportive and helpful. ■ Indicate that a request is important to you.

■ Don’t manipulate and exploit people for ■ Don’t ask for a personal favour that is

personal advantage. excessive given the relationship.

■ Defend someone’s interests and back them ■ Provide an example of proper behaviour

up when appropriate. (role modelling).

■ Keep promises.

■ Make self-sacrifices to show concern.

■ Use sincere forms of ingratiation.

Coercive power:

■ Identify credible penalties to deter ■ Inform target of rules and penalties.

unacceptable behaviour. ■ Give ample prior warnings.

■ Gain authority to use punishments. ■ Understand situation before punishing.

■ Don’t make rash threats. ■ Remain calm and helpful, not hostile.

■ Don’t use coercion in a manipulative way. ■ Encourage improvement to avoid the need

■ Use only punishments that are legitimate. for punishment.

■ Fit punishments to the infraction. ■ Ask target to suggest way to improve.

■ Don’t use coercion for personal benefit. ■ Administer discipline in private.

Table 8.1 Guidelines for building and using power

Leadership may be exercised on the basis of sapiential authority – that is, by wisdom,

personal knowledge, reputation or expertise. A sapiential-type relationship places

emphasis on a guiding and facilitating role and is often appropriate for people in cre-

ative, specialist or professional jobs where there may be particular resentment against a

formal hierarchical style of managerial leadership.

The leader may exercise authority as an attribute of position, because of a stated

position in the hierarchy. Leadership, however, is more than just adherence to a formal

role prescription. For example, Lucas refers to the importance of strong communication

skills, the ability to facilitate and maintain relationships within the team, and a ‘toler-

ance of differences’, recognising that your way of doing things isn’t the only way.

Fullan refers to the importance of relationship building as a basic component of the

change process and effective leadership: ‘Leaders must be consummate relationship

builders with diverse people and groups – especially with people different from them-

selves. Effective leaders constantly foster purposeful interaction and problem solving,

and are wary of easy consensus.’

We have seen that there are many alternative forms and styles of managerial leader-

ship. It is usually claimed that a human relations, people-oriented approach is more

likely to lead to job satisfaction and work performance. However, it is not always the

case that democratic styles are best. There are occasions when an autocratic style of

leadership is more effective. For example, we have seen from the studies by Fiedler that

when the situation is very favourable or very unfavourable in terms of leader–member

relations, task structure and position power, then a task-oriented style of leadership is

most effective. Some subordinates appear to prefer a more directive, task-oriented

approach and respond better to more autocratic styles of leadership. (Recall also the

discussion on managerial behaviour in Chapter 7.)

Contingency models demonstrate that there are many forms of leadership. Within

an organisation different individuals may fulfil the functions of leadership and there

are many different styles of leadership. A potential danger with the contingency

approach is that the manager may appear to lack consistency in leadership style.

However, although subordinates may reasonably expect some degree of consistency

from the manager in approaching the same type of problem with the same style, this is

not to say that different types of problems should be approached in the same manner.

Subordinates would ordinarily expect a different style of managerial leadership accord-

ing to the contingencies of the situation.

Different types of leadership may also be most appropriate at different stages in the

development of a business organisation. For example, Clarke and Pratt identify four dif-

ferent styles of managerial leadership required at different stages of business:

champion, tank commander, housekeeper and lemon-squeezer.

■ Champion. As a new corporate venture develops into a business it needs a cham-

pion to fight for and defend the seedling business. The champion must be able to

drive a small team to win orders, provide a wide range of management skills, and

have the dash and energy to deal with a range of different matters.

■ Tank commander. As the business enters its growth stage the manager must

develop a strong, supportive team and have leadership qualities to be able to drive

into readily exploitable parts of the market.

■ Housekeeper. As the business runs up against boundaries erected by other growing

businesses it enters the mature stage. The housekeeper has to ensure the efficient

CHAPTER 8 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

309

Exercise of

authority

NO ONE BEST FORM OF LEADERSHIP

Different styles

at different

stages of a

business

and economic management of the business. This involves skills in planning, cost

control and the development of soundly based personnel policies.

■ Lemon-squeezer. Although the mature stage might last for many years, sometimes a

business goes into premature decline. At this stage the need is for the kind of leader

who can extract the maximum benefit from the situation. The lemon-squeezer

needs to be both tough and innovative in order, for example, to cut costs, and

improve productivity and staffing levels.

Finding and fitting the manager best suited to each stage of a business is a delicate task.

Clarke and Pratt suggest that most managers are one type of leader or another.

Although there are exceptions, few managers are flexible enough to switch between

such different leadership roles.

The suggestion that different types of leaders are needed at different stages of the devel-

opment of a company is supported by Rodrigues. Organisations functioning within a

dynamic environment experience three stages of change: a problem-solving stage, an

implementation-of-solution stage, and a stable stage. At each of these three organisa-

tional stages a leader with different traits, abilities, and behaviour is most effective.

Rodrigues suggests that organisations which exist in a dynamic environment there-

fore generally require three types of leaders: the innovator(s); the implementor(s); and

the pacifier(s).

■ The innovator is characterised by the need for competition, the struggle to succeed,

the search for new ideas, boldness, and the belief that the environment can be con-

trolled and manipulated. An innovator style of leadership is likely to be more

effective at the problem-solving stage when an organisation needs renewing or at

least some new ideas. Such a leader is best equipped to identify and ‘sell’ new ideas.

■ The implementor is characterised by the need to control and influence situations,

the ability to accomplish things through people, a systematic approach, and the

ability to assume responsibility for decision-making. Once the innovator has sold

the new ideas to the organisation, then an implementor style of leadership is likely

to be most effective at the implementation stage.

■ The pacifier is characterised by the need for a friendly atmosphere and social inter-

action, the capacity to decentralise decision-making and to pacify important

individuals, and the desire to base decisions on feedback from earlier decisions.

When the implementor has systematically brought the organisation to the stable

stage, then a pacifier style of leadership is likely to be most effective. At this stage

members usually feel more competent to perform the task in hand and will accept

less direction from a leader.

As Rajan also points out: ‘Of course, different leadership styles are needed to cope with

different situations: for example, the autocratic style makes sense when an organisa-

tion is in deep trouble and needs to achieve a rapid turn-around. That style would be

counter-productive when the organisation is in a growth situation.’

And Stern main-

tains that although in more carefree times business gurus exalted leaders who admitted

to frailty, not any more. The task of sustaining growth in a sluggish market calls for

driven, leather-skinned bosses. Instead of touchy-feely management the quality of

‘mental toughness’ is needed to help elite performers to prevail.

Another major variable influencing choice of leadership style may be national culture.

For example, McGregor concluded that the social, economic and political environment

affected the leadership relationship, together with the attitudes and needs of ‘follow-

310

PART 3 THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER

The right

leader for the

right situation

NATIONAL CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP

ers’.

Tannenbaum and Schmidt identify leaders’ own value systems as factors which

influence their chosen style. They also highlight subordinates’ – or non-managers’ –

needs for independence and tolerance of ambiguity as relevant variables in the choice

of style.

These factors vary according to the cultural context in which the leadership

relationship takes place.

One should be wary of stereotyping the behaviour of leaders or subordinates, and

many myths appear to have grown around notions of ‘orderly’ German, ‘undisci-

plined’ Italian and even ‘obstructive’ British workers. However, there are reasons to

suggest that there may indeed be national cultural differences which are relevant to an

understanding of leadership. The work of Hofstede has already been referred to in

Chapter 2. One dimension for classifying societies, power distance, is said to influence

the extent to which subordinates accept inequality, which in turn may influence the

extent to which leaders wield power.

Thus one might expect a more autocratic style of leadership to be characteristic of

organisations in countries as diverse as France, Spain, Hong Kong and Iran which all dis-

play a high level of power distance. In contrast, countries identified as low power distance

societies included Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries and the USA.

Given the inclusion of the last country within this group, it is perhaps not surprising that

so many American writers advocate adopting participative styles of leadership.

We have already identified the contribution of contingency approaches to understand-

ing leadership, which suggest that contrasting types and styles of leadership may be

more or less appropriate in different situations. Kreitner puts forward a model which

identifies national culture as an important contingent variable in evaluating appropri-

ate leadership styles. This framework builds on the ‘path–goal’ model put forward by

House, and House and Dessler (discussed earlier in this chapter). Kreitner takes House’s

four identified leadership styles set out below and suggests that they may be relatively

more culturally acceptable in particular societies:

■ directive

■ supportive

■ participative

■ achievement-oriented.

Several points could usefully be noted from this model which, it should be stressed,

Kreitner intended to serve as general guidelines for international managers and other

interested parties. Participative leadership, which involves consultation with workers

and consideration of their views, is seen as sufficiently applicable and desirable to be

appropriate in all cultural contexts. Employees in countries which Hofstede identified

as exhibiting ‘low power distance’, for example the USA, may have less inherent regard

for hierarchy and seniority; respect in such cultures is related to actual achievement, so

it is not surprising that a directive leadership style is not recommended in these coun-

tries. Some countries, for example Hong Kong, may either have a sufficient cultural

mix or be pragmatic enough to be tolerant of all four styles.

Whatever a manager’s individual preferred leadership style, they may be constrained

by the relevant legislative framework of that country. As an example, in Germany an

extensive system of co-determination operates in which managers are required to

engage in varying degrees of consultation and joint decision-making with employee

representatives. Such national institutional frameworks will clearly affect leadership

and management styles more generally, and it is interesting to record that Kreitner sug-

gests that a directive leadership style would not be appropriate in Germany.

CHAPTER 8 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

311

Stereotyping

the behaviour

of leaders

Culture as a

contingent

factor in

leadership?

Research undertaken by the consulting firm Hay/McBer, as reported by Goleman, has

studied which precise leadership behaviours yield positive results. The research drew on a

sample of 3871 executives worldwide and identified six, well-known different styles of

leadership, each springing from different components of emotional intelligence:

■ Coercive leaders – who demand immediate compliance;

■ Authoritative leaders – who mobilise people towards a vision;

■ Affiliative leaders – who create emotional bonds and harmony;

■ Democratic leaders – who build consensus through participation;

■ Pacesetting leaders – who expect excellence and self-direction;

■ Coaching leaders – who develop people for the future.

However, only four of these leadership styles had a positive effect. The coercive style

demanded immediate compliance, lacked flexibility and motivation, and was the least

effective style. The pacesetting style set high standards of performance but led to a

drop in morale and had a largely negative impact.

Goleman reports that the most effective executives use a collection of distinct leader-

ship styles, each in the right measure, at just the right time. Although the authoritative

style of leadership can be occasionally overbearing it was found to be most effective

and can motivate and inspire commitment to the goals of the organisation. The affilia-

tive style has potential to create harmony within teams and can be used in

conjunction with the authoritative style. The democratic approach was seen as posi-

tive, and encourages input from staff and helps build consensus through participation.

The coaching style, although the least frequently used, can help staff identify their

strengths and encourage long-term development goals. The study concludes that the

most effective leaders rely on more than one leadership style, and were able to master a

mixture of authoritative, democratic, affiliative and coaching styles. Leaders with the

best results use most of the styles in a given week – seamlessly and in different measure

– depending on the business situation.

PART 3 THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER

EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP STYLES

312

Reliance on

more than

one style

I was delighted to be given a new role as head of a

department that was in trouble, but I’m finding it impos-

sible to deal with all the demands on my time and to

decide on the priorities – everyone seems to want a

piece of me, to sort out their projects and problems.

Taking on a leadership role for the first time is tough.

There is always the pressure to do things, the right things,

and to be seen to be doing them, and a lot of this pressure

is in your own head. But unless there‘s something obvious

that needs sorting out, your first few months in the role will

be better spent in understanding the people and the situa-

tion rather than doing much.

One easy mistake is to think that, as leader, you have to

solve all the problems, and it is convenient for others to aid

you in this delusion, since it takes the pressure off them.

Instead, rather as the judo black-belt uses his opponents’

weight and strength to defeat them, try using existing

resources to identify the current position and the ways to

change it for the better.

Start by consulting widely, beginning with the people

who now report to you. A series of one-to-one meetings,

though time-consuming, will be worthwhile, especially if

they are structured to provide you with the information you

need to make subsequent decisions. Two useful prepara-

tion questions are: ‘What do you see as the biggest

problem facing the department now?’, and ‘What one

change would make the most difference to our success?’

From their answers you’ll begin to build up a picture of

your people, as well as the issues. Some will have taken on

the challenge of considering the needs of the department

as a whole, while others may be stuck on their particular

concerns. You will also have had personal contact with

each person and will be able to judge who you can work

with most fruitfully in the future.

First class coach

EXHIBIT 8.2

Clearly, there is no one ‘best’ form of leadership which will result in the maintenance

of morale among group members and high work performance. Three main aspects to

be considered in determining the most appropriate style of leadership are: the man-

ager, the group and the work environment.

However, there are many variables which underlie the effectiveness of leadership in

work organisations. More specifically, these include the following:

■ the characteristics of the manager, personality, attitudes, abilities, value system; and

the personal credibility of the manager;

■ the type of power of the manager and the basis of the leadership relation;

■ the characteristics of the subordinates; their needs and expectations; attitudes;

knowledge, confidence and experience; and their motivation and commitment;

■ the relationship between the manager and the group, and among members of the

group;

■ the type and nature of the organisation, and different stages in the development of

the organisation;

■ the nature of the tasks to be achieved, the extent to which structured or routine;

■ the technology, systems of communication and methods of work organisation;

■ organisation structure and systems of management;

■ the type of problem and the nature of the manager’s decisions;

■ the nature and influence of the external environment;

■ the social structure and culture of the organisation;

■ the influence of national culture.

CHAPTER 8 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

313

If there is overlap in their responses, this will be a useful

pointer to the priorities for your attention. If there is no

duplication in problems or solutions, it will be clear to you

that you’ve inherited a disunited group, which will need

some team-building and perhaps restructuring. If no clear

picture emerges, it will be evident that your people are part

of the problem; you’ll need to do something to bring to

their attention the common threats they face.

At the same time, consult with customers, external and

internal, to gather their views. Be open to criticism, and to

praise. Comparing the views of your department with this

external perspective and seeing where the biggest gaps

are will help pinpoint areas for action.

While you are data-gathering, have a good hard look at

the figures, possibly applying measures that differ from the

standard ones. A client of mine, in a similar position to you,

perplexed by the lack of knowledge about which of the

products of his new division were profitable, and recognis-

ing that staff costs were a key determinant of profitability,

asked for a simple analysis of profitability per employee.

Though there were grumbles that the new figures required

extra work, the output gave very clear comparisons

between the products and enabled some new thinking

about how many of what sort of staff were really required.

You mention the difficulty of deciding on priorities. Your

research will have turned up a number of areas for action.

Some of them will be easy to implement. Others will take

time, money and additional resources. One thing is certain:

you’ll be unable to do them all personally. You’ll need to

harness such resources as are available in the department

to make progress on them.

Here I suggest bringing your senior team together and

debriefing them on the findings of your research, both the

problems and the suggested solutions. Then, together, plot

the solutions on a big graph, with one axis relating to the

amount of difference the action would make and the other

to the ease of implementation. This will prompt useful dis-

cussion on the issues and means of resolving them, which

will give the opportunity for shared understanding of what

needs to change. In selecting priorities, you might well gain

volunteers to tackle some of the identified tasks. Agree

actions, assign responsibility and establish dates for com-

pletion and for the group to review progress.

Once you’ve got the department identifying and solving

its own problems, you’ll have more time to think about your

own issues and how you can manage upwards and side-

ways successfully, as you‘ll need to do if you are going to

excel in your new role.

Miranda Kannett is managing coach at The Coaching House

(www.coachinghouse.com) and a founding partner of The

Management Due Diligence Co. If you have an issue you’d like

this column to cover, e-mail: management.today@haynet.com

Reproduced with permission from Management Today, March 2002, p. 84 with

permission of the copyright owner, Haymarket Business Publications Ltd.

VARIABLES AFFECTING LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS

Education and training in management needs to emphasise not only interpersonal

skills, but also a flexibility of approach, diagnostic ability and the realisation that the

most effective form of leadership behaviour is a product of the total leadership situa-

tion. For example, Fullan draws attention to the importance of leading in a culture of

change and also that effective leaders understand the value and role of knowledge cre-

ation.

Advances in technology and systems of communication also represent an

increasing challenge for leaders.

According to research carried out by Development Dimensions International (DDI) on

the state of leadership and leadership development, the majority of staff do not have

confidence in the abilities of their leaders to guide and direct the organisation in the

future. Results of the research were based on contact with 52 companies, and 2360 sets

of data returned from managers, non-managers and HR professionals. Of the three

groups less than half (36–47 per cent) have high confidence in their leaders’ ability.

The DDI survey found that leaders at all levels need to develop core leadership skills:

adaptability; building a successful team; communication; decision-making; and build-

ing positive working relationships.

The survey also found that today’s leaders are not prepared strongly for future leader-

ship positions. It will be important to develop skills in empowering leadership,

innovation, communication, visionary leadership, aligning performance for success, and

strategic decision-making. The survey draws attention to the emerging global leader, and

that in the future more and more leaders will need to transcend cultures and geographic

boundaries. The leadership shortage is real. Organisations need to develop their leaders,

or those leaders will go elsewhere. Organisations must be more serious about succession

planning and developing future leaders from today’s workforce.

According to Investors in People, leadership development is not just a corporate

issue: ‘The ability to create and communicate a clear vision, and motivate people to

deliver it, is as important to the small entrepreneur as to the leader of 1000 people. All

organisations should be identifying the managers they will need in a few years’ time

and developing them. All top managers should be planning their succession and sup-

porting the people who will step into their shoes when it’s time to move on.’

(The

Investors in People ‘Leadership and Management Model’ is discussed in Chapter 23.)

Leadership development in the public sector

Extensive research undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute reveals that con-

sistently poor ratings accorded to public sector leaders is a key cause for concern during a

period of major reform. The survey of 1900 public sector managers, mostly at middle and

junior level, reveals that only 33 per cent of managers rate the leadership demonstrated

by their most senior management team as high quality. Although a wide and varied

range of training activities is taking place, the majority of managers perceive a low prior-

ity placed on leadership development. Only a quarter of respondents claimed their

organisational budget for developing leaders is adequate and organisations are still tend-

ing to rely on traditional and formalised methods of developing their leaders.

The leadership success factors adopted by Autoglass Limited are given in

Management in Action 8.1 in this chapter. The Leadership Development Centre of

IBM is given in Management in Action 8.2.

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PART 3 THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT