LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Distributed leadership

Leadership is too important to be left to a few people. Old fashioned ‘command and control’ approaches won’t meet 21st Century needs. Top leaders can make a real difference but successful organisations have empowered leaders at all levels. Asking front line leaders how much responsibility they have – to set objectives, make decisions, manage budgets – is an effective way to predict  how successful an organisation will be.  Such organisations also allow leadership to be shared amongst the team, with the appropriate person coming to the front when the situation needs them to, regardless of whether or not the word leadership is in their job description.

Situational leadership

Leaders need to adapt their style to the situation. There are plenty of models you can use, but the key is flexibility. All the evidence is that most leaders limit themselves to one or two styles. These may have brought success in the past, but give no guarantees for the future. To continue to succeed leaders must keep developing their repertoire.

What effective leaders do

There is no need to surround leadership with an aura of mystery.  My approach is more pragmatic. Leadership is about achieving things through others, so leaders need to:

• Set a compelling vision and communicate  this effectively to all involved

• Build relationships so that people are motivated and engaged

• Establish effective performance measures  that lead to the behaviours and results the organisation needs

• Create a culture in which people can have direct, honest,  open conversations to drive the business forward

How leaders develop

Leaders need to continuously:

• Increase their self-awareness

• Identify what they need to do to improve

• Find people who can help them do this

Start by identifying the sort of leader you want to be (you will need to update this as your career progresses).  Then make sure you get high quality feedback from people whose views you respect.   Choose the learning methods that suit you best and find a variety of people - buddy, coach, mentor, consultant, facilitator, and trainer – to help you develop.  You will need to continually practice until the skills and behaviours you need become second nature, and you turn strengths into real talents.

How Diamond Facilitation can help

• Have a look at the free resources - such as the information on how to develop team and organisational culture

• Book a place on an open course, or ask about bringing one in house

• Get in touch to talk about any aspect of leadership development