Approaches to leadership
“An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.”
Arab proverb or Alexander the Great, King of Macedon (356-323 BC)
Traditionally there have been three different approaches to leadership:
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qualities - you've got what it takes;
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situational - you're in the right place at the right time;
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functional - you actually do what's needed for success.
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THE QUALITIES APPROACH
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When research started on leadership many decades ago, the commonly accepted view was that a leader was born and not made and that there were certain qualities (intelligence, determination, initiative, etc) that make a leader. But researchers soon discovered no common denominator or agreement on a definition of each.
That said, any group will expect its leader to have certain leadership qualities though these may differ with individual perceptions (and the culture and norms of the enterprise). Ask yourself which qualities did Maggie Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Winston Churchill have in common. Tenacity and courage immediately spring to mind. Quite possibly these are qualities of 'natural or born leaders'.
Qualities will always be important (enthusiasm, courage, resilience, etc) but are not a total answer because:
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many leaders have such qualities without being particularly effective,
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there is no definitive list of 'the' qualities of effective leaders,
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it is difficult to define objectively concepts such as 'integrity',
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how do you develop a quality, e.g. humour (read Private Eye?)
But you cannot leave personality and character out of leadership and it is generally agreed that there are some generic leadership qualities including:
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enthusiasm - passion, zest
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integrity - the bedrock of good leaders
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toughness and fairness - often demanding and not easily satisfied
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courage - to face difficult times
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warmth - being human
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resilience - not giving in easily
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humility - lack of arrogance
Clearly it is risky to select leaders solely by virtue of their qualities. Probably the best we can do is to identify the individual strengths of people and whether or not they are more suited to a particular leadership role.
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THE SITUATIONAL APPROACH
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This approach is predicated on the notion that in a given situation, leaders will emerge naturally. Take the committee that runs a village fete. It will comprise people driven by a common goal: a fete that raises money for the village. Leaders will emerge to take on certain aspects – organising caterers, recruiting volunteers, managing the money and on the day itself, crisis management when generators fail, a child is lost or the tearoom runs out of milk.
This approach often emphasises the importance of knowledge.
But take a closer look at the presumption that 'authority flows from s/he who knows'. Is technical competence enough to ensure effective leadership? If I ask whether you know someone in a position of authority within your enterprise who has all the qualifications and degrees but is an ineffective leader, you'll probably answer - yes.
In practice, technical ability is essential but is not the sole answer. Furthermore, leadership is usually defined by an organisation's structure and is rarely passed round the group - except in the more project-led/cell structured organisation or when an individual is leading a task force drawn from several functions and/or departments.
THE FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
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Research, therefore, moved on from concentrating on the leader's qualities and the situation in which they found themselves to look at what the leader actually did that ensured whether or not s/he was effective.
John Adair developed a training model that distilled this into three inter-related leadership requirements:
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to define and achieve the task;
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to build up and co-ordinate a group to do this; and
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to develop each individual within the group.
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This functional approach is usually called Action Centred Leadership (ACL)
WORKING MODEL FOR THE LEADER
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You will notice that the three circles overlap. If you achieve the task, the effect will have a positive impact on the group and help to create a sense of unity. It will also influence individuals (as we shall explore when we look at motivation). Furthermore, if you have an effective group, you are more likely to achieve the task. If the individuals concerned are fully involved and motivated, they will give much more to the task and to the group.
By contrast, imagine blanking out the task circle. That would symbolise a total failure and, at the same time, you would have taken quite a chunk out of the group area and a similar one from the individual circle.
Similarly, if you block out the group circle, i.e. pay little or no attention to group cohesiveness, it would impact adversely on the task and individual circles.
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CORE COMPETENCIES - another approach?
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Before leaving this topic, I'd like to mention a major piece of work that we completed at Guy's & St. Thomas' NHS Hospital Trust. We were looking for a business planning and performance process that would cascade our corporate objectives down through the entire Trust.
I describe it in depth in the managing section of this website in a series of papers prefaced 'The Shared Agenda'. But, at this juncture, I thought that you'd be interested to know of the importance we placed on the core competencies identified as essential for the senior leaders (aka the Senior Cadre) who were charged with driving the Trust forward in line with its mission, values, strategic direction and medium and long-term objectives.
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I give more detail elsewhere but, at this stage, would just mention that we found that the core competencies were;
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Strategic Perspective - takes a wider view and plans ahead, and aligns own actions with the Trust's strategy.
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Outward Focus - has a deep understanding of developments elsewhere and capitalises on best practice to meet the needs of patients and other users of the Trust’s services, both inside and outside the Trust.
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Stakeholder Awareness - understands and works with stakeholder interests to achieve positive outcomes for the Trust.
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Influencing Others - able to persuade, convince and influence others to a point of view or to give support.
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Communication - communicates clearly with others, willing and able to listen, share and ensure the free flow of information.
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Achievement Focus - sets and achieves goals, makes continuous improvements and aims to be at the 'leading edge'.
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Judgement - develops accurate, objective assessments of what needs to be done even in complex and difficult situations.
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Leadership - inspires individuals and teams to achieve high standards of performance and personal development.
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Managing Diversity - recognises and optimises diverse contributions.
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Team Player - works co-operatively as a member of a team committed to overall team objectives rather than just own interest
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