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Much has been written about the key to effectiveness leadership.
Here is a thought provoking view presented by a senior leader in an ASX Top 50 company....
I've just come home from having a coffee with an ex-colleague; we'll call him Simon (name changed to protect the innocent). Simon is an Executive General Manager at a well known Australian company and leads a large and diverse workforce. During our discussion he presented me with a really thought provoking view of effective leadership.
Put simply, his view is that often the decisions and actions of senior executives get in the way of getting the job done - and that it has negative impact on a company's results. No doubt we've all seen examples of this in our own teams. Simon sees his role as leader as binary. His decisions either have a positive or a negative impact on the team. And his effectiveness is driven by his ability to see the difference and focus efforts on the positive. As you can imagine, he is not an advocate of change for change sake!
Underpinning this thinking is the principle that, no matter what he does, the phones keep ringing and the fundamental engine or infrastructure keeps on moving. Regardless of the decisions he makes, the business continues to operate. In essence it is the realisation, or in fact the internalisation, that he (and any other member of the team) is dispensable.
So how does he drive value into his business? Simon's way is based on a few basic principles:
- All team members must understand and live the values and principles that form the bedrock of the business
- The vision and purpose of the team must be clear to all
- Role clarity and demarcation is critical for leaders and staff alike
- Investment in training is fundamental to ensure that all team members are skilled to deliver the requirements of their role
Simon suggests that, while it isn't easy to achieve these things, once they are in place, the leader should get out of the way and let everyone do their job. But getting out of the way doesn't mean going out for a long lunch. His role then becomes focused on running interference to ensure that organisational "noise" doesn't interrupt the flow of the business or the pursuit of the most important goals.
There's no doubt that, to some extent, this does oversimplify the demands of effective leadership. That said, it's hard to argue with the fundamental principles - and certainly in Simon's case, the results speak for themselves. |
