The Death of Leadership is Coming
Leadership is dead. Or, if not dead, it’s in a coma. Executives all over the world are so overwhelmed with the day-to-day nitty-gritty of their jobs that they don’t have the time for leadership training or the energy to be good leaders. Instead, executives at every level are constantly fire-fighting and are lurching from crisis to crisis.
As if this isn’t enough, executives are frustrated by a lack of support from the board, active resistance from their peers, and the cynical ‘seen it all before’ attitude of a vocal minority of their employees.
These are the findings of a global survey of executives by bestselling leadership authors Steven Sonsino and Jacqueline Moore. ‘The executives we’ve been talking to over the past 12 months want to lead well, they want to be inspirational leaders, but they can’t seem to do it. They face immense personal pressures, more than at any other time in their leadership careers,’ says Sonsino. ‘The situation is much worse than it was 12 months ago.’
For example, one executive asks: ‘How do I minimise time in plate-spinning without it being my full-time job?’ Another asks: ‘How do you create the space to stop the daily fire-fight to “do leadership”?’
The honesty of the executives responses is unprecedented, Sonsino adds. Executive are even asking: ‘How do I know that I’m a good leader?’
The research, conducted by the authors over 12 months, reveals that today’s leaders are well meaning, but that performance, productivity and profitability are doomed. This is because managers are paralysed with frustration, says Sonsino. ‘Frustration kills executive action,’ he says, ‘which adds to how overwhelmed executives feel, which magnifies their frustration. It’s a vicious circle.’
In fact, today’s managers are more paralysed with frustration than they were last year, says Sonsino. ‘More than 30% of the executives we surveyed this year openly said that they’re not getting the right kind of support from their boards. About 20% are more frustrated than ever with their teams. Some very honest executives – about 7% – are frustrated most of all with themselves. That they can’t get their people moving.’ None of this frustration was obvious last year, says Sonsino.
There is hope, though. Many executives ARE willing to fight the inertia, like the manager who says: ‘I’m willing to fight the supertanker – though it may take many kilometers to make the rudder turn.’ But they want to know how to do it.
As well as knowing how to do it – in practical, step-by-step detail – these managers also want to know how to build support and credibility while they act. One executive put it this way: ‘How do I maintain the right balance between being dissatisfied with the status quo and being perceived as too critical or negative?’
These questions and the practical solutions to the challenges faced by today’s executives are included in a new leadership whitepaper, ‘The Death of Leadership’, by Sonsino and Moore.
With the report the authors make a hard business case for the so-called ‘soft’ people skills. The authors point out that despite most managers today being more highly educated than managers in the past, there are still major gaps in their knowledge.
‘While managers may know WHAT to do to lead their people – develop their staff, be more emotionally intelligent, build trust and so on – many managers still don’t know HOW to lead as well as they could,’ says Sonsino.
One of the report’s key recommendations for managers is to seek out practical, step-by-step help in building support and overcoming resistance inside companies. Many business schools and consultancies focus only on stories about inspirational leaders, such as Gandhi and Mother Teresa. ‘I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds me, but while this may boost their aspirations to lead well, it doesn’t help executives with their day-to-day challenges,’
The report also offers a warning for human resource directors and training providers. Don’t just focus on inspirational leadership. Put on an array of leadership development programmes, suggest the authors, and balance the inspirational with the practical. Without this balance, firms risk crushing productivity and performance by ignoring the everyday reality for most managers.
In conclusion, leadership really will die, says the report, unless executives themselves show the courage to overcome their frustration and take effective leadership action. ‘Executives must rise to the challenge and accept the responsibility to lead. They can be good leaders, even in these difficult times. Their success can be accelerated if more professional training is developed that deals with the critical interpersonal skills of overcoming resistance and building support.’
Managers, training providers and HR professionals can download ‘The Death of Leadership’ from http://www.DeathofLeadership.com on Monday 2 June 2008. It’s free.