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9 Leadership in practice

Introduction

Can we identify the key elements of effective leadership? Can we assess individ-
uals on those elements, looking at their skills and performances? Can we help
individuals to become more effective leaders? Are leaders born or made? Or both?
This chapter answers these questions. Leadership is a key to managing organiza-
tions in periods of change and crisis and is thus important to all of us working
within organizations.
Hersey and Blanchard (1988) write that leadership occurs when one attempts
to influence the behaviour of an individual or group. They go on to state that
there are three general skills (or competencies):

1 Diagnosing: being able to understand the situation as it is now and knowing
what can reasonably be expected in the future. The gap between these two –
sometimes known as the ‘performance gap’ – is the problem to be solved. This
is what the effective leader will attempt to change. Diagnosing is a cognitive
skill.
2 Adapting: involves adapting one’s behaviour and other resources in ways that
help to close the ‘performance gap’, a behavioural skill.

3 Communicating: even if one knows what needs to be done and is able to adapt
oneself to meet the new needs, this will fail unless one can communicate all
this to others in ways that they can understand and accept, a process skill.

Warren Bennis (1984) has completed an interesting study of 90 outstanding lead-
ers. Based on this he identifies the following four areas of competence shared by
all 90 leaders:
1 Management of attention: the ability to communicate clear objectives and direc-
tion to others.
2 Management of meaning: the ability to create and communicate meaning
clearly, achieving understanding and awareness.
3 Management of trust: the ability to be consistent in often complex circum-
stances fraught with dilemmas (so often the potential trap for the unwary) so
that people can depend on them.

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