The words “leadership” and “leader” have unfortunately been turned into buzz words and a series of platitudes that have drowned out their true meaning and critical importance in our organizations, families and world. Like so many other meaningful things (happiness, fulfillment, parenting and others), leadership has also become a mere sound bite and part of the “like” and “share” culture. Our attention spans have become so short that our development activities have withered away to a scroll through our LinkedIn or Facebook feeds and being fortunate enough to find a quote or five-point checklist that helps us get through a situation that calls for leadership.
To be frank, the platitudes conveyed by these memes, quotes or two minute videos make me want to throw up. They are nice in theory and who would disagree with them; however, they are light on substance and having a real impact on what might be the single greatest need in our world and organizations today – the need for leadership.
In my judgement, there is no more critical factor that results in success than leadership and it is sorely lacking.
When I turn on the news and I see the events of the world unfold, I’m left wondering who is the next Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln or Nelson Mandela. I even find myself pining for a leader like Tom Kirkman, the fictional POTUS in the television series, Designated Survivor.
In our organizations, leadership is lacking. A 2016 Interact survey with 2,058 U.S. adults showed that a vast majority (nearly 70%) of the managers said that they’re uncomfortable communicating with employees. Over a third (37%) of managers said that they’re uncomfortable having to give direct feedback about their employees’ performance if they think the employee might respond negatively to the feedback.
That’s startling, because one of the primary things employees say they need to feel engaged at work is the leadership that comes with regular, meaningful communication with their managers.
Our people want to be led and we’re not leading. I include myself in that statement because as a leader of a volunteer organization of approximately 200 people, I embarrassingly find myself not leading when leadership is called for in terms of improving effectiveness and engagement.
You and I could blame those we are leading but as is said in the book, Extreme Ownership, there are “no bad teams, only bad leaders.” We must take 100% responsibility for our leadership and the results we are (or are not) getting. The results leaders want are predicated on ownership, engagement, commitment, passion and the other host of discretionary resources leaders want their team to volunteer. When a leader is seeking these, she is asking for her people’s heart. And in order to get their hearts, she must give her heart first. This is a tall order for even the most emotionally intelligent leaders among us.
Leadership of this type isn’t the function of a position but is a function of who you are and your character and organizations know they need to invest in leadership development.
The 2016 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report notes that 89% of executives “rated the need to strengthen, reengineer, and improve organizational leadership” as important or very important and Forbes reported that US spending on corporate training has grown to over $70 billion in the United States and over $100 billion globally. Guess what the top priority has been and is projected to be into the future? Leadership. It is no doubt a priority for many but it too often receives insufficient learning strategies to achieve the change of heart, mind, habits and practices needed and that certainly a leadership quote, hack or social media meme just isn’t going address.
I’m tired of organizations spending money and resources on training where the impact of the training lasts only as long as it takes for participants to get back to their desks. The traditional, event-based training approach simply doesn’t work when it comes to leadership and other intensely interpersonal and behavioral subjects.
As William James said in 1887, we are a “bundle of habits” and “by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.” Thankfully, neuroscience has come a long way since 1887 and we understand neuroplasticity and habit change much better, but the fact remains we are a bundle of habits and something radical is needed to change the habits, practices and behaviors of leaders to meet today’s challenges while also being sensitive to time away from work and it be completely relevant to the challenges and issues participants are experiencing. Leadership training that will stick must provide for strong learning retention, practical application, and the type of support needed to see a real return on the training investment.
In my next post, I’ll share what I believe are the elements that must be included in every development initiative in order for it to actually work.