The situation.
One of the heaviest millstones around the neck of company performance is leadership or, to be more precise, the lack of it.
In our work, we see many organisations and there are significant gaps in morale and performance levels between a well-led team and “the rest”.
We also get told by HR departments that leadership is lacking inside their organisation and it is destroying potential.
Well-led teams are teams. They take pride in their achievements, they produce good quality, have high productivity and take responsibility for their work.
They are also innovative, flexible towards change and “wow” their customers.
And the others?
Other “teams” lack these positive elements, they “just do a job”, giving them no real satisfaction. On top of this, there are greater attrition levels, adding significantly to the costs of the business as well as upsetting careers.
What is done about this important issue?
Lots! Hundreds of crores of Rupees are spent by India Inc. on Leadership Development, Leadership Competency Mapping, and more. All this wipes the same amount straight off the bottom line.
And for what? Maintaining the status quo.
The real impact is so small, it makes one wonder if companies would be better off not undertaking such interventions and instead instantly boost their profits.
Hand it over to L&D?
Unfortunately, it is most often treated as an L&D challenge: how do we change this person’s habits?
I have just come across a blog post that underlines why this just does not work: http://zenhabits.net/enjoy-the-habit/
“… you’d be surprised how many people try to force themselves to do things they don’t enjoy. They try to instill “discipline” because they think it’ll make them a better person or give them a better life, but what kind of life is it if you force yourself to do things you hate all the time?
And here’s the thing: if you try to make a habit of something you don’t like doing, you’re almost sure to fail. I know, because I’ve tried it many times. If I find myself saying, “I hate this, but I can do it!” then it’s an uphill battle, and one I almost always lose. Because after a week or two of doing this, you’ll lose enthusiasm. You’ll run out of the incredible energy required to form a new habit, and then miss the habit one day, and another day, and soon it’s over.
But look at the opposite scenario — you do something you love doing. Well, how hard is it to motivate yourself to do this? You look forward to it. You are excited about it. When you actually do the habit, you’re happy, and your overall experience is positive. That’s a habit that is much more likely to stick. “
This is exactly what we have found with our experience with hundreds upon hundreds of McQuaig behavioural profiles of managers who find it difficult to be leaders. They are trying to adopt habits they cannot enjoy.
… And it was so predictable.
Competency modelling…
Some companies create and use a leadership competency model to prevent selection errors. Even so, subjectivity creeps in all too easily, resulting in the wrong people being placed in leadership positions. Yet this situation is relatively simple to avoid.
So what is the solution?
The answer is to find the causes of ineffective leadership and then address them.
Selecting and Developing REAL Leaders is one major part of the solution.
We also have to focus on the other factors surrounding a person in the workplace.
Just one example from the various kinds of situation we come across is a dynamic and decisive goal-oriented leader being taken on to turn around an ailing unit.
However, within 3-6 months the new incumbent has quit because every time he wanted to initiate an important and much-needed change, the CEO would not permit it, wanting status quo to prevail.
A case of the right person for the job but not right for the culture.
In Summary:
- Select REAL leaders — use The McQuaig System™ to identify them clearly.
- Use L&D budget effectively — give new habits that REAL leaders will love to have.
- Look at other factors influencing managers’ behaviour, including such things as culture.
