Virtually All of Us will Lead Right? 7.5 tips to creating leadership opportunities

There is tremendous hyperbole generated regarding leadership as we hear of panacea solutions to make us all CEO, presidential or prime ministerial material. Sales hype for courses will always be with us appealing to the emotion, the earning potential from doing another course or taking on another consultant to assist us to find the leadership cipher. And, probably, the vanity of being a leader we all require to have us motivated each morning.

Leadership is a subject, complex and often subjective. Hardly surprising given leadership entails people; people come in a great number of shapes, sizes, forms with tremendous differences inside themselves as individuals and when acting collectively.?

Definitions of leadership abound, possibly the most straight forward and pertinent remains

Someone able to inspire others to accomplish something

All the business leadership books are there with CEOs playing ‘up’ their role and downplaying the external factors, the wider features of management allied to leadership of corporations. Having written, or had ghost written for them, a book describing how the vision was formulated and then communicated, the role of leadership becomes wholly consumed in a personality rather than the wider aspects to engender leadership in different settings, in different levels of the organisation. At different stages of company development or project management.

Most of us are not talking about the leadership, management and circumstances of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Winston Churchill.

Rather, leadership is regularly about making things happen on a rainy day in Slough when deadlines loom and the electric bill for the lights has yet to be covered.

What is the scope of leadership?

Is it acting with those who come into direct contact with you?

Or is it influencing the wider environment (leaving aside defining this environment) and making things happen well beyond your immediate circle of people you are communicating with?

All environments require leadership and the skills required in the different environments are as varied as the environments themselves.

• To be a leader, you have to have knowledge of yourself.

To know how you work best and what your default style is. This is to say, how you normally act and react in day-to-day settings.

• What are your motivations? Not incentives, incentives rarely impact any of us beyond a 3 to 6-month period in a job.
• What is it giving you the buzz well beyond the morning coffee?
• Why did you start this business?
• Why did you come to work for company A, charity S or department Z?

Going beyond the normal fight, freeze or flight of the primal responses to emergency settings to knowing how you communicate with others or position yourself (and why) in a meeting, be it physically or via different media. We are always sending messages.

Messages of how we seek the easy steps or challenges.

How we are oriented to direct action or periods of reflection to define what is what. Preferring being together or working individually feeling in to the arts and sciences of delegation and team management. This is not about proving your self or proving how you weigh up against others but knowing how you balance within yourself. Think on these questions:

• What do you see when you look in the mirror to do your hair (or wish for more hair to do for some of us)?
• What gives you energy? What infuriates you?
• How do you act and react regarding these elements?
• How do you discern you feelings and sentiments; sensing out what you are communicating to others?

You must be able to offer a knowledge of yourself that is self-effacing, offers values others feel they can live with and by. Possibly seek to emulate.

• Be able to project confidence; the assessment by the leader of their capability to contribute is an essential. Confidence is not synonymous with dominance. A quality leader can step away from being at the front to offer leadership through other people and medi

The need for certainty (can the leader relinquish control) requires a leader to know what they can and cannot do. This is the way to build a team and add value to specific skills not just through project managing but by offering leadership and opportunity for others to take on leadership.

A leader of merit takes this on board and offers a certainty.

Ensuring the stressors are away from those who will not have their performance enhanced by the acute stress many of us need to move us faster and catch the departing bus. A good leader will spot how others work with stressors making sure the team functions and shields those not tolerant of stress, offering up motivation to those who savour challenges. A good leader knows their people and their own dynamics and can delegate project tasks accordingly.

Once knowing yourself, then you can challenge your normal style and use your skills to get past the ‘Task, Team, and Individual’ mnemonic to work out how you balance these three elements to deliver results. Results set not only by the task but also what you, your team members and you wish to achieve as impact beyond the immediate.

Culture: National and Organisational. Whether a one-person micro biz or working for ‘The Man’ in one of the multinationals, we all develop within different cultures.

Companies wanting to dominate in their industry or even compete establish global operations. As firms establish their presence in new countries one of the factors they must consider is culture. Companies in the USA have been praised (e.g IBM, Hewlett Packard, GE, Microsoft to name several well known, ‘older’ brand names) for their success and leadership capability. Microsoft are now seeking to change their profile as they talk with Tik-Tok’s parents. Google, Amazon and Facebook are now trying to identify new ways to recruit people into ‘their’ cultures as Alphabet, Google’s holding company, deals with ‘middle age’ in the new corporate lifecycle scenario of shorter lifespans for the average corporate. But we are not talking averages; they are misleading and certainly not the stuff of leaders with substance.

1. Successful leadership in running a company in the USA does not guarantee the same “leader” would be effective in the organisation in new (external) cultures. Or does the organisation seek to transplant its culture across (national) cultures??

Geert Hofstede was the first to undertake a study to establish the impact of cultural differences on management with the first studies beginning in the late 1960s involving 6,000 IBM employees in 40 different countries. The study asked for the preference of management style and work environment. Hofstede identified four “value” dimensions on which the countries observed differed:

1. Power distance, indicates the extent to which a society accepts the unequal distribution of power in institutions and organisations.
2. Uncertainty avoidance, refers to a society’s discomfort with uncertainly, preferring predictability and stability
3. Individualism/collectivism refers to the extent to which people prefer to take care of themselves and their immediate families, remaining unemotionally independent from groups, organisations and other collectives
4. Masculinity/femininity dimensions reveal the bias towards either “masculine” values of assertiveness, competitiveness, competitiveness and materialism, or towards “feminine” values of nurturing and the quality of life and relationships.

Given the differences in value orientations, Hofstede questioned whether American theories could be applied abroad and discussed the consequences of cultural differences in terms of:

-??????? Motivation,

-??????? Leadership and

-??????? Organisation

Hofstede did not differentiate motivation from incentive. Further work, as functionality of the brain has been delved in to far more, has shown incentive, for most people, only figures as priority in work for the first 6 months, after this? People want motivation. We expect to experience value in what we are adding, to sense a career path and feel appreciated.

Apparent during the last two decades is the rise of how capitalism has been questioned. ?The concentration of wealth is leaving the social ethos of enterprise is changing. Responses and reactions to COVID-19 have reinforced this with self-employed and micro and small business owners, the majority of people in all economies, have been left aside from the main thrust of support and recovery schemes.

With the power of machine learning, technology in general, now far greater, other factors are at play with organisations able to discern different behaviours, the basis of culture, within a country. The capability to individually target placing information reinforcing beliefs brings new connotations to leading us to the point of managing our thinking. ?An understanding of these elements becomes the basis of the (much more) involved work used to manipulate how we act as individuals and collectively across and through different media. ?The appealing to different, motivational, factors, has caused us to become further subdivided into groups, social categories or factions whilst still appealing to the individual desire to be different. Massaging the ego whilst manipulating the responses through an understanding of motivational factors.

Hofstede argued the following about cultures found to cluster in one of the “value” dimensions

1. Power distance culture is attuned to hierarchical structures and authoritarian style.
2. High uncertainty avoidance cultures place emphasis on written rules and procedure. In these cultures emphasis on job specialisation is apparent.
3. In high collectivist orientation cultures, the group is the central focal point.? Co-operation is more valued than individual work and the leader facilitates teamwork and tries to create a supportive atmosphere.
4. In countries with high masculinity orientation the leaders are more concerned with the accomplishment of the task - organisations place great emphasis on bottom-line results.
5. High femininity cultures demonstrate concern for social responsibility.

What does this mean? A leader from a low power distance culture moving to a high distance culture many be perceived as ineffective since team members, subordinates, are used to a different approach.

• How are we all to grow as people? Or is this our fate?

Work on brain function shows our primary motivations are largely shaped 3-6 months after birth. Secondary motivations before 6 years of age.

• How do we influence and impact cultural settings?

Some of these are subjugating massive numbers of people because of the approach, regularly reinforced, by those holding leadership positions

Organisational culture influences what leadership style is effective. From an organisational point of view Charles Handy puts forward the following four organisational cultures:

1. Role culture: procedures laid down (equating to high uncertainty national culture)
2. Power culture: frequently found in small entrepreneurial organisations.? Everything revolves around a personality – points of Greiner’s Model and how to know how to develop is critical here in terms of helping businesses, organisations, through inflection points where foresight and decision making are critical.
3. Task culture: The job or project dominates. Leadership is about facilitating.
4. Person culture: Minimal structure and often spontaneous forming of groups to achieve specific needs. Today’s western family is seen as exemplifying without a nuclear grouping, indeterminate and multiple roles beyond core expertise.

• Essentially this means culture should not be seen as an inhibitor to leadership but as an arbiter as to what style is effective.

Managing or supervising; the delivery of a task - Several variables act when a task or situation is being assessed.? Where there are constraints, of time, understanding or unclear objectives, a style of directive leadership is often effective. In contrast when there are fewer constraints an open, delegating style can be appropriate. The styles run through, and must be placed, into the cultural aspects. For example, a masculine, uncertainty avoidance culture with a role culture tends to reinforce the telling of what to do. A person culture with feminine culture lends itself to delegating.

-???????????????? Telling: subordinates unable or unwilling to take responsibility. The leader “tells” eliminating risk of misunderstanding.

-???????????????? Selling: The leader knows people are willing but unable to take events forward.? The leader directs and motivates people.

-???????????????? Participating: The leader supports and motivates the wider team.

-???????????????? Delegating: Leadership empowers people to complete the task.

If the leader is capable of changing styles, they will be able to manage in a variety of situations. Or, if the leader is able to assess situations, they can select the opportunity to work to their leadership style.

Increasingly tasks are multifaceted and complex allowing, if not requiring, a number of people to share the functions of leadership. The response in numerous organisations has been the development of matrix structures requiring a style where leadership must suit the results as perceived by those working on a project regularly requiring interpreting higher-level goals for more immediate targets demanding different leadership skills.

Two points are emergent here. Firstly the practical issues of management and leadership are apparent. In a matrix setting, regularly the manager will not have, should not have, a leadership role on specific pieces of work. Constantly leadership will fall with specific technical expertise granting a person confidence and capability to take forward, lead, specific targets in a complex setting. Clearly this is dependent on the overall cultural setting and such a matrix style is regularly challenging for those from, say, an extended power distance setting with high uncertainty avoidance.

• This is where it is not so much a country culture as generational and gender cultures being challenged.

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Secondly, linked to this point of country, is the manner we continue to have power distance cultures imposed on us with an overt masculine structure. Despite positive moves in social democracy and social capitalism the overall political tendency has been for the reinforcement of hierarchy and the closing of personal space. This is despite perceptions of greater freedoms through multimedia capability to express one’s self. But, invariably, the proposition is made, echoing the sentiments of those already in positions of power and influence if the wider culture is not wholly open to the views of minorities and, even in this setting, prejudices remain subconsciously as recent work on hiring of older, notably women, is concerned -? https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bye-boomer-the-coming-cull-of-workers-over-50-2020-07-29?fbclid=IwAR1ep3hUmc1Z8etWxQthfc-B7U3kyLmQV6lgqEnz9RFzBqPUGFA0DGI3IEg

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This raises questions as to whether you are a subordinate, a follower, or a team member.

Q? One challenge comes from the common observation that effective leadership is a function of the relationship the English language naturally sets – to lead or to follow.

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The leader’s behaviour should depend on the stage of development of the group, team or structure being led as well as the maturity of the leader and followers’ relationship.? This is where the business and organisational leadership and management diverge from the political leadership. Regularly these lines have blurred as business leaders have stepped across to be politicians and politicians in a number of settings are manipulating situations to take on business roles. Add in where bureaucrats and technocrats are now playing a political role with politicians stepping into these roles regularly in, for example, the case of the European Commission, and we see how leadership is synonymous with power and influencers and being used within far wider settings.

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When a leadership situation is considered, a number of factors come to the fore:

-??????? What are the groupings within those being led?

-??????? Does a leader appeal to positive motivational factors, incentives or a shared identity?

-??????? Or perhaps the all too common use of external threat nowadays. What is the mood within the group? What kind of relationship does the leader have with those they are seeking to lead?

-??????? Look at the classic example of the United Kingdom and the present Prime Minister – a leader for whom? Achieving what goals? (This has almost become a timeless question given the rise of popularist styles of divisive, partisan, politics seemingly consumed with GDP and the elements related to country measures of performance; often at a great cost to people)

-??????? Through what processes with what knowledge of their immediate people and, most crucially, what realism regarding their own skills to influence wider for people to follow. The contrast could be Canada where the Prime Minister is doing all things mirroring sentiments of key, influencing, opinions. ‘Leading by following’ - In essence, an illustration of machine learning in this big data age.

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In both cases, the environment is critical. Canada has a relatively settled environment whereby the ‘leading by following’ is the way to go since it is possible to seem to be all things to all people in a stable situation where few crises are looming. With regard to the United Kingdom, the lacklustre leadership and paucity of management has created an environment where everyone has an opinion but few are willing to step forward and offer leadership since it will alienate as many as it draws together.

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Businesses, where the goals are clearer, have had leaders speak out. Some analyst will contend there are CEOs who fall short on their own management credentials when business continuity and the future of the organisation are concerned. As political agendas are allowed to interfere with shareholder value (or in some key business cases, personal agendas of founders or key individuals) we are seeing outspoken statements which may not be what an organisation needs in terms of leadership or management.?? ?

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New theories and models continue to be developed in an attempt to better define leadership. Issues of vision, self-knowledge, culture, and environment in the organisation and wider traits found in a country or nation are critical. Johnson’s work provides a mnemonic to summarise.

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L ?????????????? SOAR ????? ???????????V

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Where L is the leader and his self-awareness

S is the working situation in which the leader is operating noting the breadth of situation incorporating people, place, time and dynamics of events.

O is the organisation

A equates to the activities – some things are far more complex to lead, and follow, on than others.

R represents results achieved through the interaction indicated by the flows

V depicts the vision developed to give purpose – this is where vision has to tie in to allow the motivation of followers. A vision people can take forward and lead in their particular spheres of influence. Everyone can, will, be a leader,

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Leadership is an intangible and the qualities of what makes an effective leader will continue to be debated as long as we have need for leadership.

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Social media inspired re-examination of leaders is now reassessing every situation removed from the realities of the setting at the time. How many of us can truly say we have the confidence, fortitude, to take critical decisions where lives are won or lost with the ‘simple’ act of saying – Yes, go for it. ?

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When we assess the environment and ourselves we all have the opportunity to be an effective leader. Shamefully, many in power do not have honest self-perception or continue to work with delusions of capability. Capability to assess the cultural aspects of fellow leaders and followers is also under question as the Internet removes many undertaking work on political economic analysis from the realities of culture in places where leadership is much needed now.?

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Leadership, a very human trait (or is it?), is needed in bucket loads. Yet we see the (alarming) setting where more and more are using machine learning to influence social opinion and then play to follow the trends – Leading by following, not leading at all.

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Q? Leadership is possible everywhere, by everybody.

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Q? Leadership requires us to ask difficult questions: of ourselves, the situations we are in or will be in.

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Q? Stand up, be a leader and ask questions. Do not accept bland answers. Challenge the status quo.

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Q? Leadership is for everyone, as everyone is capable of knowing their inner self and being aware of the situation they wish to influence

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– Be someone. Inspire yourself, and others, to accomplish something.?

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Someone able to inspire others to accomplish something

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Lead on.

With thanks - Crook revised 2020

Built on quality from Henley Management School Cohort 1997

?Reference Stein's work and Situational Leadership

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