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Learning to be a leader
Many of today's organisations are stuck in a management rut. Leaders in these companies persist with a traditional 'command and control' style where employees are simply told what to do. This does not encourage employees to contribute everything they can to the organisation's success and, now that we are in the midst of a global economic meltdown, it is critical that we stop bad practice. Continuing to manage in this way will only make things worse, because it cannot nurture the kind of radical change necessary to succeed in turbulent times. Organisations need to develop a new style of leadership which inspires every employee to play a part in future success and prosperity.
A great leader
Great leaders set clear strategic goals for the organisation; they communicate them and ensure that others understand why they are important. Rather than dictating how to achieve goals, they encourage colleagues to contribute ideas and to create their own solutions, enabling others to take ownership of these solutions. Leaders offer guidance and support – but they don't tell others what to do. They focus on the 'what' and 'why', rather than the 'how'. As a consequence, employees appreciate the freedom to achieve positive outcomes and leaders have more time to focus on strategic and visionary activities.
Leadership is not confined to the top team; it occurs at every level of an organisation.
Everyone who has responsibility for others at work should be given the opportunity to lead and offered support to maximise their potential. Leadership is a skill that can be learned.
Leadership learning
Leadership learning is most effective if changes are made by the top team, who are powerful role models for the rest. If those at the top display key leadership qualities, such as inspiring, empowering and motivating others to achieve organisational goals, this is likely to be mirrored throughout the organisation. A programme of learning and development can support this by introducing new concepts and skills. Such programmes can also provide opportunities for participants to try out what they have learned in a supportive environment. The case studies below show how two major organisations, Alliance Healthcare UK and AstraZeneca, achieved real cultural change and performance improvement through leadership learning programmes.
Performance coaching develops key leadership skills, such as communication, relationship building and influencing. An experienced coach can help others to define and attain their goals. It is a very flexible way to develop personal skills and improve performance and it is driven by the individual, not by the coach. This increases the commitment of those taking part to achieving results. The coaching capability of managers is a key leadership skill in itself, which more and more organisations are developing as part of their culture.
How to make change happen
If a traditional 'command and control' type of management is prevalent in your organisation, there are steps you can take to change this – even if you are not part of the top team. If you set clear goals for your own team and empower, encourage and coach them to create solutions to challenges, you see measurable benefits – such as increased productivity, increased customer awareness and improved customer satisfaction. You can then present these results to your top team, which may result in the organisation shifting towards a more modern style of leadership.
This may be unfamiliar territory and require you and those around you to step outside your comfort zones. Remember that change will not happen overnight. This is especially true during difficult economic periods. When times are tough, we are often reluctant to 'let go' and take risks and more likely to revert to old ways. However, if you consistently lead and empower the people around you to achieve great things, you will get results.
Case Study: alliance healthcare
Alliance Healthcare UK is a distributor and wholesaler of pharmaceutical, medical and healthcare products. The organisation realised it was relying entirely on external recruitment to fulfil key leadership roles and was keen to change this approach and discover and nurture future leaders from within. It was aware that it needed to develop a new style so that these future leaders could inspire and motivate others to deliver the core requirements of the organisation and drive future success. Working in partnership with us they created 'Take the Lead', a programme which provided challenging learning and development opportunities for high-potential managers. The programme aimed to develop practical skills as well as behaviours. The organisation sent a clear message to participants that one of the key aims of the programme was to change the nature of day-to-day working life and to create an increasingly dynamic culture.
Over 24 weeks, participants took part in three separate three-day workshops, held off-site at regular intervals. These were followed by a one-day workshop focused on implementing overall learning.
The programme blended a range of learning methods with leadership theory. The first workshop focused on the individual, the second on teams and the third on the organisation and strategy. Professional role players enabled participants to apply this learning to business scenarios. So, as well as imparting knowledge, participants had the opportunity to develop, practise and demonstrate key leadership skills in a safe environment.
They also worked together in small groups on projects designed to address strategic challenges within Alliance Healthcare UK. The groups were encouraged to identify these challenges themselves, in line with the programme's aim of enabling participants to take increased responsibility for driving the business forward. Challenges were agreed with the board and the managing director and subsequently assessed by them. Typically, these projects involved participants working in an area that was unfamiliar to them. By addressing very real organisational challenges, the learning and development had a real impact on workplace productivity. Following assessment by the board, several recommendations have been successfully implemented across the organisation.
Cost savings
'Take the Lead' succeeded in achieving its core aim of developing future leaders from within. Three months after the first cohort completed the programme, 79 per cent of participants had already been promoted. To date, the programme has resulted in recruitment cost savings of about £170,000.
Alliance Healthcare UK believes that this increased leadership capability and ability to react swiftly to market changes has significantly contributed to its increased market share.
The programme has succeeded in aligning individual and organisational aims and performance. It encouraged participants to be increasingly strategic, innovative and risk-taking. These skills were assessed by the board when promoting participants to more senior roles.
Overall feedback has been extremely positive. Alliance Healthcare UK feels it has "broadened people's perspectives of leadership" and helped them to see the bigger picture. It has helped participants take responsibility for leading the business.
Case Study: Team Effectiveness
When AstraZeneca's Pharmaceutical and Analytical Research and Development (PAR&D) function was restructured, new teams were created and new team leaders appointed. The leaders of the PAR&D function took the brave step of 'letting go' and giving the 60 teams across the UK, US and Sweden the opportunity to take control of how they worked together and how they delivered results. Academee was appointed to develop a team effectiveness learning programme to help make this happen.
Facilitators worked closely with each team to help it create a purpose, vision and objectives. In addition, workshops explored team behaviours and the personal journeys of team members.
Although each team was aware of overall business objectives, these were not 'fed down' during the programme, which was entirely focused on how each individual team could work and grow itself. It was an opportunity for each to focus on what it brought to the organisation.
Team decisions
The programme's key strength is that there are no right or wrong answers and all decisions are made by individual teams. Ownership of the entire process remains with the team and only the members themselves review outcomes. The Academee facilitators acted as catalysts, helping them to find new ideas and ways of working.
Academee's approach made it relevant to each team in each country and helped it to find its own way.
AstraZeneca feels that the programme was a success and that it played a key role in PAR&D's overall drive to improve processes. It has contributed to a near 30 per cent improvement in productivity overall from full-time employees.
The organisation also reports that teams now make decisions more quickly and effectively. Meetings are more positive and results-focused and goals are set more easily and accomplished more often. Teams have grown in terms of overall behaviour and the momentum and motivation created by the learning programme have been maintained. This programme has successfully aligned individual and team behaviours with organisational goals and AstraZeneca is seeing tangible benefits.
This is an example demonstrating how an organisation has benefited from leaders at the top 'letting go' and enabling others to take responsibility for achieving successful results.
The Author
Tom Pounder is a consultant with Academee
To comment on this article, email pme@pmlive.com
