Focus On emergent Leadership
Focus On Emergent Leadership
Leaders emerge at all scales in an organisation. Leadership is achieved not by appointment to a position but by gaining influence with our colleagues. As leaders we should seek out leaders as they emerge in the organisation and cultivate their growing sense of influence. Our culture should facilitate anyone in the organisation to become a leader and to grow their circles of influence. Our working practices should permit us to recognise and reward those who demonstrate leadership in the same way that we reward any other desirable capability in those we employ.
In A Nutshell
Leaders are not appointed, they emerge. Leadership is based on the ability of the leader to influence those around them - to create and grow a circle of influence. When we think of leadership in this way, it is clear that leaders can arise at any level in the organisation.
Leadership can arise in any domain of knowledge or work that is relevant to the organisation. This is particularly true when an organisation is developing new capabilities - requiring new knowledge and new types of work. Those who join the organisation with new knowledge, or those already in the organisation who first take on new knowledge are in a strong position to emerge as leaders in the new domain.
Leaders or Managers?
Hierarchy has little to do with the emergence of leadership. In a hierarchical organisation we need to resolve at least two problems if we are to successfully benefit from emergent leadership. The first is how to recognise leadership in whatever domain and whatever level it originates from. The failure of many hierarchical organisations to promote technically oriented leaders is clear evidence of the challenge of resolving this problem. The consistent linkage of hierarchical position to management rather than technical ability is further evidence that most organisations conflate management with leadership.
The second problem is how to recruit into senior positions within the hierarchy. In organisations that link leadership to position in the hierarchy, how do we assess the leadership capability of a candidate before they join? The lack of an effective leadership capability in too many hierarchies is clear evidence that we remain unable to make accurate assessments.
Practices
Develop Emerging Leaders [Agile Leadership]
Develop A Leadership Capability [Agile Leadership]
Flatten Hierarchy [Improving Ways of Working]