Leadership and moral courage

I have a very particular take on leadership, it is part evolution and part revolution; it’s something that I have come to believe with a level obsession that has driven a platform of belief that galvanises my focus and permeates the fabric of my leadership proposition.

There is an old Irish saying that goes,“I hope you are born in interesting times”and my goodness we do.

There has never been a time where the need for genuine leadership has been
most needed and frankly there is a huge gap in the capability, competence and courage of many organisations to truly allow their people to lead; in truth the obsession with output has created an environment that recognises a place for people, often espouses a duty of care and commitment and even seeks the applause that goes with that, however it is frequently and I am going to go as far as to say consistently missing. 

I'd go so far as to say many organisations are all fur coat and no knickers.

Leadership development exists to enable people to thrive, to be the leaders of, first themselves, then for others and then of others; it is my belief that if people truly allowed to step into the space that is of:

• Courage
• Integrity
• Accountability 

Then they and those around them feel connected to society and of greater value within it; it is this foundation that motivates people to discretionary effort to ensure that the organisation that enables this environment is sustainable and then as you would expect people protect what they value. 

I see leadership and management as inextricably linked,

‘leaders manage and managers lead’, the tricky bit is handling the reality of the disparity of both management and leadership ‘know how’ and the confusion that business has around the balancing acts of ‘task output vs. people care’.

It all sits on the back of the changing leadership landscape, when I look at People, Business, Culture and Society the following becomes quickly clear:

• No such thing as a job for life
• People are motivated by vastly different things
• Lack of trust in leaders
• Harder to predict the future
• Constant resource squeeze
• Increasing value expectations
• Dislocation between leaders, the culture, the customer and the service they provide
• Disbelief that leaders care about customers
• Greater desire for meaning
• People want to believe their company exists for a meaning
• Less ‘social’ value in society
• People are searching for connection
• People want to feel they are worth more than the tasks they perform

There is an intellectual leap required when it comes to leadership in this current time, it requires you to take a position and then hold true the realities that come from that. 

Leadership and management are tandem efforts in a continual state of flux, sometimes you need more of one and less of the other - in balance, you’ll see humanity, society and commercialism revealed in enthusing and developing people to contribute discretionary effort, engaging with strategic goals and putting energy into overcoming hurdles through effort, insight and innovation.

“For me it is about understanding that everyone has the right to lead and that there are no permissions required to do so, that permission is only required in order to control resource”
- Guy Bloom, Leadership Strategist

Leadership and management are tandem efforts in a continual state of flux, sometimes you need more of one and less of the other - in balance, you’ll see humanity, society and commercialism revealed in enthusing and developing people to contribute discretionary effort, engaging with strategic goals and putting energy into overcoming hurdles through effort, insight and innovation.

So the intellectual leap is that leadership is not hierarchical and that the lowest or highest on the organisational chart should in the context of leadership be judged on an equal par and that increased role responsibility is not leadership behaviour, but a role expectation.

The most important factor is the recognition that leadership and management are tandem efforts; they are in many cases in a constant battle to achieve balance. When an individual and a business are able to get the right balance then you are able to see the tenets of autonomy, mastery and purpose having their promised effect; nurturing, developing and enthusing people to contribute their discretionary effort, engage with strategic goals and bring their energy to overcoming hurdles, through effort, insight and innovation.

The real truth is that a business has to consider:

• how real they want to be
• how prepared they are to look in the mirror
  
  

It takes guts to apply release people from the constraints of structure and the feeling of safety that brings; to achieving an environment that has a viral feel, that attracts people to the culture, engages those that are already within and expels those that are not able to develop or are unwilling to engage. 

The intellectualism is easy, the reality is hard and in fact that’s not a strong enough, it is very difficult, it is the willingness to balance ‘behaviour’ with ‘competence’ and to value them both, whilst understanding that excellence in either does not counterbalance the other and that can lead to difficult decisions, if you really want a high performing leader-manager team, then it’s time to ‘put your big boy pants on’.

This is the bit that makes people take a deep breath, there are very few organisations that are truly prepared to give the effort required to operate in this space. I have been heard to say when in conversation, “How much do you really want the change? How real do you want it to be?” it is a genuine question and one that people reflexively respond with , “of course we want it”, the conversation then moves to how real are they going to be in addressing the behaviours that promote current behaviours and you know, that I know , that you know; that that comes from the top.

Leadership then is what? It is culture, it is people, it is human and above all it is a belief that you get the team that you deserve. The one you were given is the one you got, but at some point it’s a direct reflection of you.