Leading Effectively e-Newsletter - January 2006 Issue

Complex Challenges and The New Leadership
Learning to Lead (Again)

The landscape of leadership is changing. Leading is more complex and requires new approaches, new mindsets and new skills. So now's the time to take a good, hard look at whether you're learning what it will take to be effective down the road. Chances are you'll find yourself learning to lead ... again.

"Leading is ultimately about learning," says CCL's André Martin. "What worked well in the past may not do the trick in your next job or when it's time to solve the next challenge."

Martin describes the process of re-thinking what it takes to lead effectively as one of creating a new map of leadership. "The context, the landscape of leadership, is changing for a number of reasons - complex challenges, increased expectations, technology and so on," Martin explains. "Therefore, we must remap leadership's place within this new landscape and re-think the skills needed to navigate though it."

In simple terms, the balance of bottom-line to relationship skills is shifting. Relationship and connection-based skills are not optional; on the contrary, they are increasingly viewed as primary or pivotal. Leading employees, managing change, building and mending relationships and employing participative leadership are requisite skills for the leader of the future.

Leading employees. The number one required skill for leaders. Leaders who are effective in this area do the following:

• Delegate and develop. They are willing to delegate important tasks and decision making. This is done as an effective management technique, but more importantly, as a means to develop employees. Providing challenge and opportunity builds skill, experience, and confidence. As a result, effective leaders surround themselves with talented people.
• Give feedback. They are honest and consistent in communicating expectations and results. They provide prompt feedback - both positive and negative.
• Motivate. They reward hard work and dedication to excellence. They willingly explain, answer questions and patiently listen to concerns.

Managing change. Effective leaders are skilled at facilitating organization change and overcoming resistance to change. They do this by:

• Being a role model. Leading change by example sets the tone and pace for others. Effective leaders approach change in a positive and realistic way.
• Adapting. They are flexible, adapting plans as necessary. This includes adjusting management or leadership style to changing situations.
• Including others. They involve key people in the design and implementation of change. Aware of the impact change can have, they take into account people's concerns.
• Being direct. They are straightforward about the changes and consequences of an expected action or decision.

Building and mending relationships. Effective leaders are skilled at interpersonal relationships. They are able to negotiate and handle work problems without alienating people. They show they understand others' perspectives and needs and are able to gain cooperation, trust and respect. Managers who are successful at building and maintaining relationships:

• Keep their cool. They avoid creating adversarial relationships. Conversely, they can handle an unfair attack from peers with poise.
• Are diplomats. They get things done by finding common ground. They use good timing and common sense in negotiating - make their points when the time is right.
• Relate to all. They can develop rapport and relationship with all kinds of individuals - from shop floor to top executives.

Employing a participative management style. Strong leaders use effective listening skills and communication to involve others, build consensus and influence decisions. They effectively:

• Engage before acting. They involve others in the beginning stages of an initiative and work to gain commitment of others before implementing changes.
• Inform. They keep individuals informed of future changes that may impact them.
• Listen. They encourage direct reports to share and listen to individuals at all levels in the organization. They consistently listen to employees - not only when things are going well.

This article was based on Andre Martin's research report, The Changing Nature of Leadership (Adobe PDF, 302 KB)

About André Martin

André Martin is a Senior Associate at the Center for Creative Leadership. With his background in team effectiveness and organization development, André acts as the Program Specialist for the Center's Leadership and High-Performance Teams Program and faculty member for custom team's solutions. Additionally, André is Project Manager for two CCL research programs aimed at exploring the leading edge of team and organizational leadership. André holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from Saint Louis University.