Autumn 2005

Leadership

Of leaders and leadership

To lead is to be in front—leading the way, at the leading edge. A leader is somebody who is in the lead, and being ‘in the lead’ means being ahead of, and thus leading, others. GEOFF MASTERS takes the topic of leadership from there in his analysis of the responsibilities and characteristics of leaders.

IT FOLLOWS from the basic definition above that a fundamental requirement for any leader is a clear sense of direction: a deep understanding of where they are leading a group or an organisation.

For a leader, this sense of direction comes first from an understanding of, a belief in and a passionate commitment to the underlying purpose of the group or organisation. For what essential purpose was the group or organisation established? Why does it exist? What is its mission? A characteristic of effective leadership is the ability to provide a sharp focus on this common purpose—a clear, value-based statement of what the group exists to achieve.

A leader’s sense of direction also comes from a vision of how much more effectively a group or organisation could be achieving its purpose at some future time, perhaps ten or twenty years from now. While most in a group may be focused on the here and now, an effective leader is busy visualising a future, and sharing and developing that vision with the group. This vision may go well beyond what many in the group initially dare to dream. But effective leaders communicate a strong belief in their vision and inspire others to pursue it with them.

Leadership also depends on an ability to develop and implement powerful strategies for moving the group or organisation in the direction of their shared vision. Progress towards an ambitious vision often requires leaders who are prepared to set a small number of audacious goals with timelines for achieving those goals. At the same time, effective leaders are flexible and responsive to changing circumstances, seizing new opportunities as they arise, changing strategies when appropriate, but not allowing themselves to be distracted from the core business of the organisation.

As well as a clear sense of direction, a leader requires a reliable basis for tracking progress over time. Effective leadership depends on being able to distinguish indicators of progress in achieving a group’s core purpose from other possibly important, but secondary, measures of progress. In not-for-profit organisations, measures of core purpose are usually more difficult to assemble than non-core indicators such as annual revenue, staff turnover and satisfaction levels, number of references in the media and annual operating surplus.

These then are essential elements of effective leadership: a passionate and personal commitment to a group or organisation’s central purpose; a vision of how much more effectively this purpose could be achieved in the future; a set of powerful but flexible strategies for achieving this vision; and a basis for monitoring progress towards this vision over time.

An effective leader also must be a competent manager. Effective leaders source, build and manage people, relationships and resources, all in the interests of advancing the group’s core purpose.

A key leadership task is to communicate and promote a shared understanding of the group’s purpose. There are few characteristics more distinctive of leadership than the ability to provide a focus on common purpose. Good leaders are articulate and passionate advocates of the group’s core purpose. They find effective and simple ways to communicate this purpose at every opportunity, both explicitly and subtly. They keep this purpose to the fore in their dealings with group members and governing bodies, and they use it as the key point of reference in deciding whether to undertake new ventures, strategies or initiatives.

Effective leaders are also passionate in the promotion of their vision for the future. As Daniel Goleman observes, the best leaders convey energy and excitement about where the group or organisation is going. They find ways to articulate their vision for the future ‘graphically, compellingly, memorably … arousing people’s emotions and harnessing them in pursuit of lofty or noble goals’. Through their own emotional commitment to the group’s fundamental purpose, their vision for the future and high professional and ethical standards, leaders provide role models and inspirations to others and so justify their positions of leadership.

Another crucial role of a leader is to build team capacity. Effective leaders understand that progress occurs through the work of others and surround themselves with extremely competent individuals who are committed to the group’s core purpose and who bring knowledge and skills that they themselves do not have. Identifying and recruiting outstanding team members is one of the leader’s most important tasks. For this reason it is crucial that leaders have the power to hire and fire. It is particularly important that leaders are able to build strong, coherent senior leadership teams and to identify, select and mentor future leaders. Employing and promoting the right people is one of the most important things a leader does.

Effective leaders create working environments in which group members enjoy mutual respect and support. In such an environment there is a constant search for new ideas and new ways of advancing the group’s core business. Learning is not merely valued, it is seen as essential to ongoing improvement. Team members are encouraged to question current practices, to challenge the status quo and to seek new ways of working and new solutions to old challenges. Members are encouraged to take risks, to experiment with new approaches and to support colleagues proposing new initiatives. In work environments of this kind, there is a willingness to live with complexity and uncertainty, as well as a high level of optimism about the possibility of achieving significant improvements in group performance. Highly effective leaders create such work environments. They expect to be constantly learning themselves and place a high priority on the ongoing learning of others.

The management of relationships is another key task of leadership. Leaders understand that the achievement of a group or organisation’s purpose and vision depends on effective and productive relationships both within the group and with external stakeholders. Effective leaders make time to talk with team members and to travel and talk with stakeholders. A leader’s job also is to promote the work of the group or organisation at every opportunity. Internally, the leader promotes the group’s mission, vision and strategic plan. Externally, they promote the work and achievements of the group to stakeholders and to the general public.

Leaders must also be able to manage and apply financial and physical resources to maximise progress towards group objectives. Wise and strategic use of available resources is a characteristic of effective leadership.

In summary, the role of a leader is to lead others. The first requirement is a strong sense of direction—an understanding of, and personal commitment to, the corporate purpose and a clear vision of how that purpose could be better achieved in the future. If a leader does not know where they are leading, then they will not be able to lead the way. The second requirement is strong interpersonal skill. If a leader is unable to communicate their vision, to inspire others to pursue this vision with them or to create a collaborative working environment for this purpose, then they will have reluctant or no followers and will be unable to lead.

Geoff Masters is CEO of the Australian Council for Educational Research and president of the Australian College of Educators.

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au