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With sound and effective leadership in today’s economic climate more important than ever I am astounded that I still read survey results such as the one below.

‘Jan. 26 2010 PRNewswire/ — According to a recent national survey by Lee Hecht Harrison, the majority of workers in the U.S. find their bosses likeable, but feel the management within their companies have room for improvement.’

Well that’s a “no brainer” of course and I guess it will always be the case however their next statement gives a little more insight.

“When asked to rank which qualities their boss best exhibited, likability took the top spot among U.S. workers, followed by leadership, honesty, fairness, patience and loyalty. Although leadership ranked second, just less than half of workers polled (49%) thought their managers exhibited strong leadership skills – a sobering data point reinforcing the need for renewed focus on leadership development.”

I have seen in many countries the problem of bosses wanting to be liked. To be honest if you are an individual that needs to be liked can I suggest you don’t take on a leadership role. You don’t want to be hated either however you must be respected if you are wanting to be an effective leader.

There are many aspects of to gaining respect however here is a short checklist.

Openness: let people know what you want from them and how you feel about their efforts

Competence: if you can’t demonstrate that you are a competent person you will never gain committed followers

Consistency: a measured and stable attitude to work and followers is essential if you are to reduce unwarranted levels tension and promote excellence

According to the website Bizcovering [and I agree] you also need to ‘Show courage in facing difficult issues even admitting own mistakes, maintain your vision consistently and involve everyone positively’. They go on to say a “most importantly. you need some mechanism for sustaining hope when things otherwise look sour.”

Another key survey finding uncovered: “Motivation & Mentorship Lagging: Only 24% of employees polled felt that their manager displayed motivational skills [I think they mean inspirational skill as I have explained in another blog post] and the same number noted that their supervisor failed to mentor and explain the choices made from an organizational perspective.”

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Finally can I suggest that again the central problem is poor communication skills. I have written many posts on the need to communicate well as a manger, the difficulties most of us have and some of the solutions available. Can I also strongly suggest that if you are a manger and not currently reading (or have never read) a book on leadership and/or leadership communication, best visit your local bookstore as soon as possible.

The nature of management responsibility at work is rapidly changing and traditional methods of measuring effectiveness are no longer adequate. Performance now needs to be viewed from a totally new perspective.

In a TRADITIONAL organization management was responsible for monitoring and checking work of subordinates, i.e. checking on efficient levels of ‘inputs’… raw materials, staff time, use of capital equipment and monetary budgets. In an ENTREPRENEURIAL organization the focus shifts to prioritising activities, allocation of resources (time and money) and particularly the effective ‘purchase’ of optimal talent, expertise and services. The assessment of ‘outputs’ is now the primary focus. WHY… as modern markets move towards more varied product and service lines (e.g. Dell Computer) there is a greater need to combine more types of specialization and expertise.

Also in a TRADITIONAL organization the focus was on delegation of duties within traditional bureaucratic structures where each member knows his or her role and 1+1=2. Conversely in an ENTREPRENEURIAL organization our duty is now the selection of individuals and project teams to balance talent and creative output where 1+1 needs to = 3, 4, 5 or more.  WHY… the trend towards projects rather than long term jobs and the modern customers desire for the purchase of the innovative solutions.

A good place to start checking where your organization stands today is by reviewing current position descriptions to see if they reflect the way it was… or the way it now needs to be.

DO OUR MANAGERS REALLY UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE IN OUR ORGANIZATION?

Ric (orglearn) **Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

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