and handling relationships – even if they are inclined to. Not only are
more individual managers recognizing the importance of managerial
abilities and the connection with bottom-line performance, but there
are also external pressures. Investors are unhappy with the
speculation that often accompanies annual reports and the
chairman’s statements, and are inadequately informed by the
accounts (which, after Enron, we now know can bear little relation to
reality). Investors need to form some sense of a company’s potential,
and hence its value. They are asking – sometimes directly, sometimes
indirectly – about managerial ability. They are putting a price on
your ability to lead and handle people.
In a recent newspaper article, Warburg Dillon Read stated, ‘the value
of £500m on Granada management is based on analysis of earnings
growth compared with peers.’ This may seem a crude measure, but
the importance is in the focus: Warburg Dillon Read are asking about
managerial ability. The establishment of a sound strategy and a
coherent business structure is not enough. What analysts and
investors are also examining is whether there is a process in place to
implement a solid foundation of appropriate skills and behaviours.
In other words, is this precious managerial ability due solely to a
talented individual or two currently on board, or is there also a
programme of development and succession planning that will
maximize the chance of developing and attracting high performers in
the future?
Can I change? Will it change my personality?
Once you accept intellectually the need for development of
management skills and behaviours, there can still remain doubts
about your ability to adapt. We can believe, falsely, that we ‘can’t
change’ if we are from a particular profession, or we are over 40, or if
we are married, or some other reason. This chapter explores the fears
and doubts that inhibit us, and encourages a belief in relentless
improvement. Let’s take some of the fears or grounds for scepticism
in turn.
momentum complete leadership chapter two
27
pages 26 /
‘Emotional, behavioural stuff is just trendy Californian thinking’
An understandable fear is that talk of behaviour, or emotional
intelligence, is ‘new age’ trendy thinking, and that being an
executive means being rational, analytical and decisive. We argue
that this is not an ‘either/or’ situation. Analysis and rational thought
remain as important as ever for business leadership. What we seek to
illustrate through this book is that leadership behaviour is the
manner in which rational decisions are put into practice, and to show
you how this is done. Your people are more likely to achieve your
vision – or a shared vision – if they understand what the vision and
the strategy are, and are enthused to deliver it. They may achieve
even more than you hope if they are truly motivated. You may learn
from an intelligent, dynamic team. This is not a weakness in you, but
quite the opposite; it is part of the virtuous circle in which leader and
team are growing and delivering exceptional performance together.
Sue Turner, human resources director at the IT and Operations
Shared Service Organization at Barclays Bank, comments on the
experience of members of an executive team that she has helped
coach and put together:
‘Before, they would have been sceptical about “pink and fluffy”
team-building; but now they are up for it.’
We’ll return to the experience of this Barclays executive team in
Chapter 4.
There is an increasing amount of research indicating that rational
and emotional thought are not really separate. We engage
intellectually with the ideas that please us most. Activity in the parts
of the brain that are most closely identified with reason occurs in
conjunction with similar activity in the emotional department of the
cerebrum.
9
This would indicate that it is a mistake to suppose that
Once you accept intellectually the need for
development of management skills and behaviours,
there can still remain doubts about your ability to adapt.
we can divorce analysis and strategy-setting from behaviour and
feelings.
Some of the most recent research on human expertise actually inverts
some common assumptions. It asserts that where rational thought is
dominant, one achieves only a moderate level of competence, and
that for the highest levels of expertise you need to bring in intuition
and subconscious learning.
10
The concert pianist is not thinking, ‘four
demi-semi-quavers followed by a quaver;’ he or she is in such
complete mastery of the pattern and mood of the piece that they’ve
moved far beyond thinking in such linear, rational steps. In the
same way the complete leader moves effortlessly between the six
leadership styles that we set out, deploying each one as the occasion
demands, and is accomplished in emotionally intelligent ways of
behaving. Each of the styles incorporates both rational and emotional
strands. Deciding to deploy your emotional intelligence is a rational
course of action.
In the words of Andy Logan, director of the Centaur Leadership
Programme at Cranfield University in the UK:
‘Rational frameworks are practical necessities for those who
would lead; but it is imagination and heart that inspires others
to follow.’
In a significant way, the importance of a leader’s behaviour actually
increases as he or she becomes more senior. Even in informal, low-
hierarchy workplaces, the comments and behaviour of the leader are
picked up or observed minutely by the team surrounding him or her.
This happens consciously and subconsciously.
The conscious clues come mostly from language. The comments of a
senior executive, whether made in a formal setting or as an aside, are
carefully noted by others in the team and organization, and may
form the focus of gossip. If anything, the informal comments create
more fascination, as they are often taken to be a clue to the ‘real’
thinking that lies behind the official statements. Greg Lewin,
president Shell Global Solutions, comments:
momentum complete leadership chapter two
29
pages 28 /
‘What was a surprise (as I reached a senior position) was the
powerful impact that your behaviour can have. When you are
cast as a decision-maker or first among equals or leader, your
behaviour has much more impact than previously. So it wasn’t a
surprise that my behaviour had an impact; what was a surprise
was the extent to which this was so. To you, what could be
throw-away lines could be treated with extreme significance by
other people.
‘In one case I could have been much more coaching than
challenging (in dealing with a performance issue). I had
underestimated the fact that my opinion was so valuable to him.
He was going to take heed, so I didn’t have to put it in an
emphatic way.’
Subconsciously, behaviour infuses the surrounding environment. An
irritable, stressed leader creates an irritable, stressed organization. A
high-energy, innovative leader tends to create empowered, creative
teams. We’ll discuss this further in Chapter 5 under ‘Feelings are
contagious’ (page 103).
‘Knowledge of the industry is more important than leadership
style’
As with our comments on rationality and emotion, this again is not
an ‘either/or’. An organization needs strong specialist knowledge
and abilities as well as mature leadership style. It is, however, a fair
criticism of management training in the past that too much emphasis
has been placed on generic skills and arguably not enough on the
specialist needs of the fashion business/nuclear industry/public
transport or whatever specialist area you are in. This objection is
therefore perfectly understandable.
We would make two points: firstly, this book makes a working
assumption that in your organization you have the requisite
technical skills both individually and collectively. Secondly – and
more importantly – because the transformation of becoming a
complete leader means empowering and understanding each other
more fully, we can actually better understand the technical skills and
deficiencies that the organization has through the development that
we set out in this book. If, for example, an individual feels cowed by
a bullying boss, or unrecognized by a leader who can’t listen, then
that individual’s knowledge of an area of the business, say, or good
relationships with certain suppliers, or marketing qualification, will
go ignored and unused. Complete leaders, by incorporating coaching
and democratic styles as well as those of direction and authority, can
learn more about the skills of a team and deploy them on the
organization’s behalf.
Criticisms of genericism in the past are understandable, but we are
talking about a rather different approach to management here. In the
traditional MBA, for example, there has been much emphasis on
strategic analysis and financial control; treating any organization as
being mechanical and much like any other, in the hope that generic
analytical approaches could work in any situation. This is not the
same as the combination of a range of managerial styles and
emotionally mature interpersonal skills that we set out in this book.
It is the combination of these complete leadership skills with the
technical, customer and industry-related ability that a business
needs.
momentum complete leadership chapter two
31
pages 30 /
Ian Carlisle’s story – How a company was transformed
‘If your head goes down, the business will follow.’
A perfect illustration of this combination of industry knowledge and personal skills
comes in the story of Ian Carlisle, managing director of UK firm Autoglass, the leading
windscreen provider for the UK motorist. He was elevated to the post of MD, having
been groomed by the former MD – though the promotion came a little early for Ian, he
felt, as he had been operations director for only 18 months when the move was first
put to him.
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.