Lead, Follow…

…or Get Out Of The Way.

This well-known quote from Thomas Paine serves as the basis for the second segment of the Total Leadership Process. Thomas Paine has been called the Voice of the Common Man and as such serves as a backdrop for the People aspect of Total Leadership. Last month, we established Purpose as the foundation of Total Leadership revealing itself through the organization’s Vision and Strategy. This month we invoke the People aspect of Total Leadership as we look at organizational development processes organizations use to determine who can communicate the strategic objectives, execute those strategic objectives and provide feedback on progress made on the strategic objectives. In other words, how are organizations developing leaders at all levels of the organization? (click here to continue reading)

In today’s competitive and turbulent, fast-moving economy developing the right leaders becomes an imperative for survival of the business, whether for-profit or not-for-profit. In much the same context as my comments last month where previous strategic assumptions are likely not to work in our current economy, so too are the attitudes and methods traditionally used to develop leaders called into question. We can no longer assume leadership is about possessing certain personal characteristics but rather about the ability to set goals and achieve desired results.

So what does this mean exactly? It means we have to get beyond the development process that assumes if you grow certain leadership qualities in people then somehow this will positively impact operational results. Too much time, money and energy is wasted creating a yardstick of designated leadership characteristics only to find they are yesterday’s news based on the fact changing external and internal forces for change all organizations face. It becomes a journey of hope that is no more effective in today’s market than the “Field of Dreams” (build it and they will come) business strategy.

The solution is all about defining and justifying leadership development on the tangible outcomes it is intended to produce. It drives a strategy focused on the desired results and then grows and develops the people (and processes) to realize those results. As Peter Drucker so aptly stated, “Leadership is all about the Results”.

The challenge with this solution is it assumes the People development process throughout any organization is aligned to its Purpose. This is true regardless of the size of the business or non-profit organization. Is the Leadership Development process in your organization linked tight enough to the Vision and Strategy so when the Strategy changes to adjust to the post-recession economy your organization automatically adjusts the leadership development to develop new skills to deliver new results? If not, are these leaders really leading or are they just in the way?

Lead Well!