I have studied and worked in the field of leadership consulting for nearly 30 years. This, however, is the first time in my life when I have been witness to a time when, quite wonderfully, practice trumps theory.
Debates abound as to what a leader is, what the characteristics of a leader are, and what skills, behaviours and attitudes are needed in good leadership practice, which are still in high demand.
However, as businesses face what are possibly some of their toughest challenges for many years, theory, and arbitrary and meaningless “leadership” training can, in my opinion, be discarded in favour of rather finding and following those people who can safely lead us out of the prevailing circumstances, irrelevant of any theoretical postulating.
Without reading even one paragraph of purported theory, my instinct tells me those people who are able to think and strategise, believe in the future that is yet to come and who can inspire me personally to raise my level of operation and feel safe under their watch, would get my vote.
Maybe I am a little fussy, but I do believe that in fulfilling my basic human desire to feel secure, any person to whom I am beholden, be it within a work or political environment, needs to provide me with some basic corporate governance in order for me to identify them as a leader.
Be brave
As a number of promises, visions and dreams are crashing down, so are the support systems and the modus operandi that was previously adopted in order to achieve those dreams. Challenges may arise that necessitate changing the rules of the game. This is OK, but in changing the message, true leadership skills must come to the fore. The level of maturity, genuineness and honesty of the communication need to be honed by those who would like to move out front and take charge. These times call for courage, authenticity and an ability to deal with the reality of the situations that are faced within any specific constituency.
The level of maturity, genuineness and honesty of the communication need to be honed by those who would like to move out front and take charge.
Jill Hamlyn is CEO of The People Business Group
The challenge I am facing is that although I truly believe my demands are few, there appear to be very few people who meet my personal expectations. I would thus like to throw the question out to a broader audience in order to see if my expectations are that farfetched or not. What I require, no, possibly demand, are:
1 Authenticity - that ability to be real and genuine. No falsehoods. Being able to stand up in the face of adversity and be true to some individual, but fundamental values and principles.
2 Being positive about the future and motivating and inspiring me to want to go into that future, be it behind, or alongside the person who possesses the vision.
3 Inspiring me to be me - this is, I think, a missing link in many supposed leaders' repertoires.
4 Having courage - I have a very simple philosophy in life that, as people, we are all actually facing in the same direction, and that is into a yet-to-be-defined future. There are, however, many challenges that present themselves on this journey, be they commentary about some current phenomena that is then aligned with predictions about some future state. As we never actually get to meet the future until we are faced with it in its present form, a leadership disposition that I would truly admire is that “bring it on” syndrome that emphasises that wherever we do end up being, there will be a pot of gold in there somewhere.
5 I would like to see a sound moral base in any person whom I would call a leader. Someone who rises above the material and personal temptations and who can actively challenge those people or events that are identified as sabotaging the identified future ideal.
6 Particularly within the world of work, I believe the appreciation of people has changed, and, with the advent of many more individuals who demand that they are treated with a greater sense of dignity and respect, appreciation for the individual is paramount in any leader that I would choose to willingly, and not despairingly, follow. The traits of effectively interacting with others are easily identifiable. In my opinion, most people fall drastically short in their ability to appreciate that others may have an opinion, never mind really listening to what that opinion may be. Body language in this regard will highlight that recognisable factor that shows whether the person in question is leading through dominance, personal charisma or, alternatively, genuinely interested in the well being of others.
There are so many people who need guidance, direction and to feel safe and secure. Within any environment, the opportunity really is now for the best of the best to take charge. However, as an executive personal and leadership coach and although I work with some of the best people around, I still believe that the true leaders are in exceptionally short supply. With this lack of skills, the saddest part of this reflective exercise is, however, that there are still some people out there who think that they are leaders based on the position they hold and the dominance they have over others. Perhaps now is the time for change.
* Jill Hamlyn is CEO of The People Business Group.
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