Personio Pulse: Relearn your approach to leadership ??

If there’s one thing we really should relearn in HR and beyond, it’s the role, impact and expectations of leadership.

Professor, author, TEDx speaker and founder of People & Transformational HR Ltd , Perry Timms , shares how a fresh approach to leadership can nurture organizations’ strengths.

?? Leadership as a space

We should think of leadership not as heroes, a singular act or a sole craft, but as a space that many of us could and should step into.

— Vijay A. Raju , entrepreneur and author

The idea of ‘leadership versus leaders’ is too crude as a dilemma or even frame, but some of you reading this will point to the increase in leaders as dominant forces exerting strong-arm tactics to get their way. And you’re right.?

The hero (or anti-hero) leader is far from extinct and possibly a more noticeable and prevailing force. But there's something in the air.

?? Managing as a form of leadership

Let’s start with one form of leadership: that of team leaders, more often referred to as line managers.?

Who at school, when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, said ‘A line manager.’ Answer: No one.

— Gary Hamel , professor at 英国伦敦商学院

While this might be true, we find ourselves ascending the corporate ladder of promotions and seeing the hierarchical state of being as a symbol of success. Line management is often the first step. But there’s a little problem with this: The cliché (or truth) is that people don’t leave bad companies. More likely, they leave bad managers.

But let’s not just criticize the managers. They have a tricky job transitioning from colleague to manager. They are somewhat coerced into ways of managing by their manager. And yet, we sometimes promote high-performing individuals who really are unsuitable to lead others and the cycle of ineffective leadership continues.

Such people don’t have bad intentions. They are likely individually brilliant in technical skills, but can they show clear direction to others, inspire them, coach and support them?

Those may not be the keys to unlocking promotion to being a manager, but they should be, as is the realization that leadership is more than technical capabilities.

?? Can we all lead?

Now, if we look at leadership as a space, there’s perhaps someone on the team who’s a visionary, someone who helps others at the drop of a hat, someone who can be the master technician and someone with a detailed mind.?

They should all lead in their respective space. The line manager's role is tough enough as it is without the need to be across all those areas, so the solution is to enable others to share in the leadership spaces you have and need.?

This enables organizations to nurture the strengths in the team. After all, the role of a leader in any space is accountability, clarity and togetherness.?

These three elements help create outperforming, unified teams. In our complex times, excellent leadership now means creating the space to lead — for you and others, collectively, considerately and confidently.