Most writers including Adair, Daft, and Champy agree that there certain core or common qualities required to be a leader. The importance and relevance of each quality varies depending on the skill / experience of the leader, the company’s goals, the followers, the task or situation. Strong leaders do not rely on one or two qualities but on a combination many in order to succeed. There are very few natural born leaders. Most good leaders are created as a result of experiences and training. According to Richard Daft “ many leaders are not born. Leaders are made … by effort and hard work. ““ So what are these qualities which combine to create leaders ?
Articles from the writers previously mentioned and recent research, namely The National Research for Research in Vocational Education, California, list the following as the main leadership qualities; Communication, Passion, Honesty, Awareness, forward-thinking, team-builder, fairness and flexibility. This list is not exhaustive but covers most of the main traits or qualities.
Communication is very important as all leaders need to listen, understand and relate to various individuals and groups.. Employees must know what is expected from them and how this could be achieved. Leaders must be aware of what is working or not working before they can react appropriately. Customers and suppliers need to be listened to and informed. Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister , said that knowing what , when and how to communicate was mandatory for any leader. ( Interview, Industry Week, June 1997)
Enthusiasm and passion are present in most dynamic leaders. People who work for or who have experienced any of the many Virgin industries cannot fail to be inspired by the energy and zest for success of Richard Branson and the culture it generates.. Hermain Cain, C.E.O. of Godfather Pizza said that “ if you cannot be passionate about your business, nobody else will be “ ( Interview with Dr. Janet Lapp in The Change Letter, July 1997 )Conversely it was the public’s perception of the lack of such qualities in John Major which led to him being placed third in an electorate poll on most popular leader ( Daily Telegraph, Mori Poll, June, 1997 ). Such communication must be reliable therefore leaders must be honest with both themselves and others. . This was best epithamised in 1995 by Gerald Ratner, C.E.O. Ratners limited, when he seemed to boast of having sold “ crap “ products at hiked up prices. Both Mr. Ratner and his company suffered greatly as a result. With sales falling forty per cent in two months ( source Financial Times, 16th October 1995 )
Leaders must be aware of and react to their own strengths , weaknesses , successes and failures. In addition self-awareness and integrity must be ever-present along with the ability and desire to develop and learn from mistakes and others. Followers must trust in those they look to otherwise a shadow is cast over all other areas . Leaders need to be visionary and having grasped the big picture, avoiding getting bogged down in details or trivialities. This vision must be backed by total commitment and never allowed to be lost sight of. By any of the group. Edwin Land invented the Polaroid camera by adhering to his original vision of shortening the time between snapping and enjoying a photograph.
In order to achieve such visions leaders must be able to build and shape people into teams. Recognising who will work best and where is a key factor. Factors such as skills, personalities and team interaction should be taken into consideration. A good leader will empower his followers to do the right thing in order to share and achieve his vision. Strong values and a consistent sense of fairness will promote initiative and loyalty. Leaders who use reward and punishment in a fair and consistent manner will minimize team friction and de-motivation. This will also require self-confidence and courage in its application. One example of this is Roger Miliken, Chairman of Miliken & Co. took the unique step of sending all of his one hundred and fifty staff to a textile show for the full ten days when the norm was for other companies to send ten delegates for two / three days. Miliken set up daily feed-back sessions where everyone could comment on what they had seen. Here the leaders courage , awareness and desire for involvement and empowerment reaped the benefits.
( Tom Peters, 1990 ) . While these followers have typically the luxury of many opinions leaders have responsibility to make only one decision, which must be right.
How such decisions are made will depend on the style of leadership employed. There are many styles of leadership which exist in modern organisations but most can be categorised according to which area is deemed important at any given time. John Adair offers a popular example of this when he cites three main areas of leadership concern i.e. the task, the group or the individual. ( J. Adair, 1983 )
Leaders concerned with the task will employ a strategic, expertise or box approach. Here the big picture and how to get there are the priorities. Much time is spent on external matters e.g. customers , competitors and formulating rules and procedures. One off projects such as a new product release would be an example of this. Individual and group centred leadership would encompass team-building, individual / team coaching, encouraging empowerment and use of reward / control. John Adair believes that the most effective leaders operate in that area where these three areas interact while retaining the ability to move from or to an area as necessary.. Organisational culture and the leaders personal traits will also influence leadership styles.
The afore-mentioned leadership qualities are the building blocks for an effective leader whose ultimate goal or vision must always be to contribute towards organisational success.
Colin Powell, former American Chief of Staff, said “ The performance of the organization is the ultimate measure of a leader “ ( Industry Week, August 1996 ) Definitions of success and the associated qualities required vary across different organisations and depends greatly on what the organization deems to be their goal. Many are shared or common regardless of task or type of work . During his 1998 election campaign President Bush stated that he wanted his followers to “ trust in him …be inspired in him and do better by him “
Surely these desires are not that much different from a typical McDonalds supervisor ?
Therefore when discussing leadership, an examination of qualities must be a priority. Without the appropriate qualities or building blocks a leader may be incomplete and therefore not as effective as he / she should be. In order for a carpenter to fit a joint he must have the right tools. How successful is he going to be if he does not even know what tools he needs ?
Some companies such as advertising firms gauge success merely by how much revenue they can generate. Here communication will be required in relation to sales figures. Passion and use of control / reward mechanisms will help enhance chances of success. People are less important than the task. Other organisations such as a personnel dept will be more concerned with the individual or team and how they are doing. Communication will be very important here in order to listen, hear , understand and react to any personnel related issues. Honesty and trust are also crucial in order to build up an effective relationship. Companies whose main objective is to provide a quality product or service will look for leaders who can communicate effectively the standards required and the implications if this is not achieved. Taking the example of food manufacturing empowerment is encouraged in order to create other leaders. and a culture of belonging and team working.. Great emphasis is placed on the process. Karl Weik argued that if we are made feel part of or create the environment how can we decry it ? (Margaret J. Wheatley,1994)
Good leadership can contribute in many other positive ways including. increased staff moral leading to increased productivity, lower staff turnover .e.t.c.. Also new products can be created out of sheer visionary application. . The Polaroid camera. and organisations are better equipped to deal with change. Effective leaders constantly challenge the status quo so that outdated or obsolete methods of working are replaced by better ones. Company’s operated by effective leaders are more flexible at and during times of change. A large part of the reason for Marks & Spencer’s demise over past four years was attributed to a stagnant hierarchy of management who were slow to change or communicate with its customer base. In the period 1991 to 1996 there were only two appointments at senior level which were filled using external candidates.
( Source Business Week, 15th March 1998 ) Also during the period 1990 to 1995 less than five percent of net profits were re-invested into the marketing department when the industry average for retail at that time was over ten per cent.
( Source, Logistica , 28th May 1999 )
In the future the area of leadership will continue to be researched, expanded upon, re-built and re-defined in greater detail. Advances in technology and further work related laws and practises will continue to have a bearing on what leaders can and cannot do.
In conclusion there are certain qualities and skills both personal and non-personal which leaders must possess in order to be a leader.. They are usually learned and along with the knowledge of knowing when and where to use them. Different leaders will have different styles depending on the organisation they operate in, the task or company objective and types of followers they enlist. History has shown us undeniable proof of what can result from good and bad leadership. Keith Grint sums up a leader as someone who
“ causes others to act “ . With regards to the positive effects of good leadership this is encapsulated in a statement from Daniel Dafoe when he says that
“ An army of lions led by a sheep is no match for an army of sheep led by a Lion ! “ ( Grint, 1995 )
