Leadership is Everyone's Business
“Leadership is everyone’s business.
The domain of leaders is the future.
The work of leaders is change.
The most significant contribution leaders make is not to today’s bottom line; it is to the long-term development of people and institutions so they can adapt, change, prosper, and grow”
Please take the time to consider those words.
The word “leadership” can be emotive and is also widely misunderstood.
How many leadership styles are there?
Here are some to consider:
- Transformational
- Transactional
- Servant
- Distributive
- Laissez-faire
- Exemplary
The Oxford Review recently analysed around 165 different leadership styles that had been identified by research teams.
So, how is it that leadership is everyone’s business?
Well, real leaders share common beliefs, values, and vision with those with whom they work.
They understand, respect and value cultural differences and embrace the huge benefits that diversity brings to any organisation.
They are empathic and value reciprocal loyalty.
They coach, mentor and champion personal development and growth.
They demand continuous improvement and development, have infectious vision, passion, enthusiasm and actively drive innovation and teambuilding.
A visionary leader knows that there is no such thing as “teaching”, only “learning”, and creates the environment to fully support that.
Transformational leaders live ethics, resonance, trust, and common purpose.
They are authentic, transparent, and caring.
They project an easy authority that flows from depth of expertise, knowledge, skill, experience, and character.
They can effortlessly adjust their leadership style to suit the situation.
They inspire and encourage change and they serve the group by putting it first.
A transactional leadership style also has its place,, when used appropriately, and forms a part of the leadership style continuum.
Leadership effectiveness, at all levels, powers the success of any organisation.
And therein lies the key phrase “at all levels“.
Because leadership doesn’t just inhabit the so-called “C Suite”, it permeates the entire organisation from the bottom-up and from the top-down.
And the future, the change initiatives that are so critical to every organisation, is driven by organisation-wide leadership.
The job of the “senior leadership” team is to create the structures and environment that removes barriers to change, encourages input and innovation from all levels and embraces and channels ideas and creativity from wherever and from whomever it comes, organisation wide.
Leadership thus becomes everybody’s business, and the positive effect on stakeholder engagement, its impact upon change, and the future it affords is profound, and will astound.
(In a future Insight, we’ll look at precisely what “values” and “shared values” mean, how to develop them, and what they can mean to an organisation)
