Leadership Crisis - How A Crisis In Leadership Can Ruin Your Business

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According to a recent government report the business world is currently in a leadership crisis. Up and coming managers, those who will be our business leaders of the future do not see examples of “inspirational leadership” in their work places. Employees long to see a genuine shared vision, real confidence and trust in teams and respect for colleagues, customers and employees. Less than 40% of managers actually see these traits on display in the workplace.

Maintaining the value of leadership was the main reason for writing this article. Only in this way will the future know more about leadership.

We did not write too elaborate an article on leadership as it would be then difficult for the common man to read it. We have written this article in such a way that everyone will be able to read and understand it!

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We were furnished with so many points to include while writing about leadership that we were actually lost as to which to use and which to discard!

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Where did all our leaders go? Perhaps we have placed too much emphasis on management of our businesses instead of leadership. I would hazard a guess that more people are comfortable with the thought of becoming a manager then they are with being asked to take the position of leader. Therefore, naturally we have more aspiring managers than leaders but a much bigger percentage of managers are capable of becoming leaders in their fields that are actually stepping up to this role. Why?

What is leadership? Perhaps we don’t have as many leaders as we need because not enough of us understand what leadership is really all about and who can become a leader. Can you take someone who isn't a natural leader and turn them into one? Are we all leaders in our own unique way? What do Leaders do and what skills do they need? Leadership is about behaviour first, skills second. Good leaders are followed chiefly because people trust and respect them, rather than the skills they possess. Leadership is different to management. Management relies more on planning, organisational and communications skills. Leadership relies on management skills too, but more so on qualities such as integrity, honesty, humility, courage, commitment, sincerity, passion, confidence, positivity, wisdom, determination, compassion and sensitivity. Some people are born more naturally to leadership than others. Most people don't seek to be a leader. Those who want to be a leader can develop leadership ability. Leadership can be performed with different styles. Some leaders have one style, which is right for certain situations and wrong for others. Some leaders can adapt and use different leadership styles for given situations. Some leaders are big, bold and brash characters, others are quiet, unassuming but determined and visionary. As a leader you must know yourself and know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team around you. Leadership is about finding the best in yourself and giving the best of yourself. Leaders always go first, setting the example, walking the talk, doing not dabbling.

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Leadership - How Can Leadership Programs Be Measured?

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This article on leadership aims at providing you with all the necessary matter you will need to understand more about leadership. So read it well.

Leadership matters. Any one person may have an effect on the behavior of others at any time. The nature and intent of that effect determines the influence, direction and outcome of leadership. Organizations depend on leadership for direction, momentum and a plan for sustainable success. How do we recognize leadership exists? How do we develop leadership? How can leadership be measured? These are questions this article seeks to explore.

How do we recognize leadership or know that it exists? Generally, leadership is defined by characteristics and results. Yet formal leadership development nearly always focuses exclusively on characteristics, relying on hope that results will ensue. Unfortunately, leadership is seldom really measured beyond an intuitive or anecdotal approach.

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For example, a person in a leadership role is deemed "successful." We want to replicate the leader's success, so we try to replicate the characteristics, skills, values, competencies, actions and behaviors of the leader. We edify and attempt to emulate these qualities in others, but we seldom get the same results. Corporate America is full of "competency-based" leadership development programs, what one might call the "injection-mold" approach. Competency-based leadership development has an effect on organizational culture, no doubt, but not always the desired effect. Leaders who somehow "measure up" to the desired competencies do not always produce desired results.

Ultimately, producing results is the reason we study leadership, the reason we seek to develop leaders, the very reason we need leaders. So it stands to reason that leadership also has been measured based on the results produced, regardless of how those results were achieved. We need look no further than Richard Nixon or Kenneth Lay to recognize the down side of such one-dimensional measures.

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The leader's role is to establish the conditions (the culture, the environment) under which others can take right action to achieve desired results. "Desired results" are best defined by the vision, mission, values and goals of the team or organization. Therefore, leadership is best measured by the how well followers execute the vision, mission and goals while "living out" the desired values. This leads us to a new premise: that leadership should be measured by the results produced and how they are produced, as so often stated. However, there is a critical third element, that is, by whom are the results produced. If it is the leader that produces the desired results, then this should rightfully be attributed to individual action without any contributing effect from the behavior of others.

There is an obvious link between communication and leadership -- the basic reason for communication and for leadership is to prompt some form of behavioral response or action. Leaders must communicate by speaking, listening, reading, writing and action. Leaders produce results and as other authors have stated, "Leaders get results through people." Follower behavior, not leader behavior, defines leadership. This might lead one to argue, wrongly, that there is little difference between leadership and coercion. Coercion, or creating an environment using fear or incentives as motivational tools, may work temporarily yet is seldom sustainable. Performance declines, conflict ensues or people leave.

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Ultimately, the brand of leadership we seek in contemporary life is best defined, developed and measured based on whether intended results are achieved, how they are achieved, the value of these results to others, and whether followers take discretionary action to achieve the leader's vision, mission and goals. Leadership depends on the achievements of followers. Leadership development must be tied to intended results of those who are lead more than competency sets of those who lead. Evidence of effective leadership can be found in the daily attitudes and habits of followers. Ultimately, leadership can be measured by the achievement of discretionary goals by followers

All this matter was written with passion, which led to the speedy completion of this writing on leadership. Let this passion burn for some time.