The Leaderful Organisation®
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leaderful organisations® blogA New Model of Management for the 21st Century
From The Corporate Soul: Desktop Consultant Series
Leader-led : The traditionTraditionally both teams and organisations have been leader-led - we appoint someone as the leader and they take responsibility for a range of functions associated with both the task and the team functioning.
This makes some sense, since, as groups get bigger, there is a risk that
- teamwork and coordination may decrease,
- social loafing may increase (there are people to hide behind or coat-tail from), and
- there can be a loss of cohesion, productivity and synergy.
In a competitive world, no organisation can afford this - and so we appoint leaders – to coordinate, to make teamwork, productivity and synergy 'happen'!
If we take a somewhat jaundiced view we also appoint leaders so that there is someone to blame when things go wrong!
Throughout the industrial age, leader-led teams and organisation thrived...they became the norm and anyone who challenged the need for a leader was thought to be naive or worse!
Nevertheless....times HAVE changed - and we have discovered that there are some downsides to the leader led tradition...especially in the 21st century - the e-Era or Knowledge Age.
The DownSides
1. Superhuman Needed!
The larger the team or organisation, the more complex the challenge, and the more dynamic and unpredictable the environment the less likely it is that one person can deliver or achieve everything demanded of a leader.
2. Strategic Vulnerability
Secondly, the organisation dependent on just one or a few leaders to ensure its ongoing success, has a significant strategic vulnerability. The loss or defection of those leaders can undermine the whole organisation.Succession planning, which is all too frequently based on assumptions of retention, stable careers and predictable challenges, seems an unrealistically hopeful strategy given what we know about careers in the 21st century (especially amongst generation Xers) and what we've already experienced in the corporate and global environment of work (do the names HIH and Enron ring any bells?).
3. It's Not my Job!
Another downside of leader appointment has to do with the psychological impact on other team member's. When we appoint a leader, we change the role perception of everyone else in the team or organisation.
As someone is appointed to 'position' of leader - ie to undertake the responsibilities of leadership, everyone else drops that responsibility and team effectiveness decreases! Social loafing creeps in as they begin to think about some things in terms of .......That's not my job.
It's hard to imagine how such shifted perceptions can underpin succeess!
The Leaderful® Team:
No room for Ego, No Room for Loafing!
Australia's most successful sporting team, the Hockeyroos, proved that there IS a winning alternative to leader-led and leaderless teams -we call this the leaderful team.
In the world beating Hockeyroos, and in other elite teams such as elite armed forces groups, some project teams, professional and consulting groups, every member is developed, expected and prepared to take the lead, and to follow another's lead when needed, as needed.
The team was leaderful and the phrase It's not my job disappeared. While there was understanding of and respect for roles their was also respect for expertise, energy and limitations! And clear curbs on any and every counter-productive expression of ego!This pattern of shared leadership is not restricted to the Hockeyroos - it is found within elite military squads, in cross-functional, professional task-forces and self-managed teams. While leaderful teams demand a certain level of
- emotional maturity (often called emotional intelligence today)
- self awareness
- situation awareness
they are far more suited to knowledge work and an educated workforce (especially one involving gen-Xers!) and they are far more suited to the 'constant white water filled with sharks' world of work today.
Imagine then a Leaderful Organisation®
Think for a moment how this might be extended through an organisation...How much more effective might your organisation be if it could operate more as a team based organisation... where every person is prepared and developed.... to step up when and as needed, to provide JUST the kind of skilled leadership needed... and equally prepared and developed to step down and follow or support another's lead when that other's skills and talents fit the changing circumstances and demands... when needed, as needed?
The Leaderful Organisation® is distinctly different and highly effective.It is particularly attractive to all those skilled and qualified people YOU work so hard to attract and retain... those people who WANT a chance to contribute but have been blocked by the leader-led paradigm that governs traditional management thinking.
If you are interested in developing YOUR ORGANISATION as LEADERFUL - talk to us - we can help!
PLEASE NOTE THAT:
The term leaderful organisation(s) is the registered trademark of The Corporate Soul P/L (Trademark #866318; 15 February 2001). It may not be used without the explicit permission of the trademark owner.You are the
person to read this article!
Remember to exercise judgment and discretion in choosing whether, when and how to use any of these concepts and suggestions to inform your consideration of issues.Nothing in this article constitutes advice for specific matters or issues you may be considering - so please ensure that you source appropriate, professional advice on specific matters you confront.
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