14709396 Leadership Development

8/12/2019 14709396 Leadership Development

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Leadershipis vital for any organization's sustained success. A great leader at top makes a

big difference to his or her organization. Everyone will concur with these statements.

Experts in human resources field mention the importance of leaders at all levels, and notust that of the leadership at the top. !t is not without reason that companies like "#,

$roctor % &amble, &E, oca ola( )*+ etc. have known to put in place processes for

developing leaders continuously.

#ention this subect, however, to a line manager, or to a sales manager, or any executivein most organizations and you will probably deal with diffident responses.

Leadership development -a strategic need?

he subect of leadershipis dealt with in a general way by many organizations.

Leadershipis usually understood in terms of personal attributes such as charisma,communication, inspiration, dynamism, toughness, instinct, etc., and not in terms what

good leaders can do for their organizations. -eveloping leadersfalls in ) domain.

+udgets are framed and outlays are used with indicators like training hours per employeeper year. /hether the good intentions behind the training budgets get translated into

actions or not, is not monitored.

*uch leadership developmentoutlays that are based on only good intentions and general

ideas about leadership get axed in bad times and get extravagant during good times. !fhaving great or good leaders at all levels is a strategic need, as the above top companies

demonstrate and as manyleading managementexperts assert, why do we see such a stop

and go approach0

Why is there skepticism about leadership development programs?

he first reason is that expectations from good 1or great2 leaders are not defined inoperative terms and in ways in which the outcomes can be verified. Leaders are expected

to achieve' many things. hey are expected to turn laggards into high performers, turn

around companies, charm customers, and dazzle media. hey are expected to performmiracles. hese expectations remain ust wishful thinking. hese desired outcomes can

not be used to provide any clues about gaps inleadership skills and developmentneeds.

Absence of a comprehensive and generic 1valid in diverse industries and conditions2

framework for defining leadership means thatleadership developmenteffort are scatteredand inconsistent in nature. !nconsistency gives bad name to leadership development

programs. his breeds cynicism 1these fads come and go....2 and resistance to every newinitiative. his is the second reason why the obectives of leadership developmentareoften not met.

he third reason is in the methods used for leadership development.Leadership

development programsrely upon a combination of lectures 1e.g. on subects like team

building, communications2, case studies, and group exercises 1problem solving2, andsome inspirational talks by topbusiness leadersor management gurus.
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*ometimes the programs consist of outdoor or adventure activities for helping people

bond better with each other and build better teams. hese programs generate 'feel good'

effect and in some cases participants 'return' with their personal action plans. +ut inmaority of cases they fail to capitalize on the efforts that have gone in. ! must mention

leadership coachingin the passing. !n the hands of an expert coach a willing executive

can improve his leadership skills dramatically. +ut leadership coachingis too expensiveand inaccessible for most executives and their organizations.

Leadership -a competitive advantage

-uring my work as a business leader and later as a leadershipcoach, ! found that it is

useful to define leadership in operative terms. /hen leadership is defined in terms ofwhat it does and in terms of capabilities of a person, it is easier to assess and develop it.

/hen leadership skillsdefined in the above manner are present at all levels, they impart a

distinct capability to an organization. his capability gives a competitive advantage to the

organization. 3rganizations with a pipeline of good leaders have competitive advantagesover other organizations, even those with great leaders only at the top. he competitive

advantages are4

5. hey 1the organizations2 are able to solve problems 6uickly and can recover from

mistakes fast.

7. hey have excellent horizontal communications. hings 1processes2 move faster.

". hey tend to be less busy with themselves. herefore they have 'time' for outside

people. 13ver 89: of internal communications are about reminders, error corrections etc

. hey are wasteful2

;. heir staff 1indirect2 productivity is high. his is one of the toughest managementchallenges.

. !t is easier to roll out programs for strategic shift and also for improving business

processes 1using *ix *igma, ?#, etc.2. &ood bottom=up communications improve top=down communications too.

8. hey re6uire less 'supervision', since they are strongly rooted in values.

@. hey are better at preventing catastrophic failures.
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Expectations from good and effective leaders should be set out clearly. he leadership

development programsshould be selected to develop leadership skills that can be verified

in operative terms. *ince leadership developmentis a strategic need, there is a need forclarity about the above aspects.

)emant arandikaradvises companies on business % brand strategy, on business

transformation, and for achieving breakthroughs in business processes. )e leverages thisexpertise in product creation proects for companies along with his design associates. )e

coaches business leaders and executives for developing leadership skills.)emant

foundedExponient onsultingand Learning Leadership.

$reviously,)emantwas #anaging -irector, &/ &lobal /eighing 1now *artorius

#echatronics2 and held position of &eneral #anager at $hilips !ndia. )e is an alumnus

of !ndian !nstitute of echnology, +ombay, !ndia.

Bor 3nsite and online coaching for leadership development, please visithttp4CCwww.learning=leadership.comC
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14709396 Leadership Development