My thanks to Richard Houdmont (@Rhoudmont) who has written today’s guest blog “Leading the way”:
What exactly is leadership? Everyone can see the effect of a lack of leadership. Integrity is the word that Siân Rees chooses to summarise leadership in one word. Which would you choose? ‘Good’ or ‘bad’? You have to acknowledge that leaders sometimes do ‘bad’ things in order to achieve a ‘good’ objective. Of course it’s a matter of opinion what’s good and bad. There’s no doubt that Nelson Mandela was an exceptional leader, but at one time people would describe him as a freedom fighter, others as a terrorist. Similarly, was David Lloyd George a good leader?
Thankfully Welsh business leaders do not have to take the sort of decisions which faced Nelson Mandela and David Lloyd George, but even so the quality of life for much of the population depends on the skill of our Welsh business leaders. That’s why it’s important to invest in leadership development. Indeed a 2012 McKinsey report suggested that over 90% of CEOs intended increasing their investment in leadership development, because they saw good leadership as fundamental to organisational health.
But what does that in fact mean? A role model; good communicator; a flexible person; decisive; firm? Does the uncertainty regarding what makes a good leader explain why only 43% of CEOs are confident that their investment in leadership development will bear fruit?
Additional research from McKinsey suggests that four traits stand out. On the whole, leaders in organisations with high quality leadership teams are associated with four sorts of behaviour. More than that, these four behaviours accounted for 89% of the difference between strong and weak organisations in terms of leadership.
Leaders must:
- Be supportive
- Operate with strong results orientation
- Seek different perspectives
- Solve problems effectively
The Leading Wales Awards enter their 12th year and once again the Consortium urges you to tell them about that special person whose leadership is making a substantial difference, by nominating them for an Award.
The judges seek nominees whose leadership is making a real difference in Wales, impacting positively on moving forward their community, business or organisation. The Leading Wales Awards believe that leadership is at all levels in an organisation and they are seeking nominations of people you know whose leadership has real impact, irrespective of their hierarchical role and responsibilities within their business, organisation or community project.
This is an opportunity to nominate (by 11 March 2016) and celebrate Welsh leaders. Go for it!”
Reflections on Leading 