One module stands out to me from my time at university some twenty-something years ago and it was in the ‘Human Behaviour in Organisations’ class. The question was something along the lines of ‘Leaders are born not made; discuss.’ The research into the work for this assignment really stuck with me, from Peter Drucker to Stephen R Covey with a sprinkling of Sun Tsu and the Art of War there was something that these scholars, academics et al all agreed on.
It was a business degree so key to answering that question was understanding the difference between management and leadership, says John Kotter, Konosuke Matsushita professor of leadership at Harvard University. He fears that too often, employers use the terms synonymously.
“Management is a set of processes that keep an organisation functioning. They make it work today – they make it hit this quarter’s numbers. The processes are about planning, budgeting, staffing, clarifying jobs, measuring performance, and problem-solving when results did not go to plan.”
Citing leadership as being very different. “It is about aligning people to the vision, that means buy-in and communication, motivation and inspiration.”
Jonathan Gosling, Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter Business school highlights the synergy of these stating “If an organisation is run effectively, leadership and management will exist in tandem.”
For me this is a universally agreed conclusion, the real challenge for many organisations lies underneath many layers in the psyche of the individuals of that organisation; what makes a great leader and what traits (or strengths) do you have/can you bring to the table? Don Clifton led a team of experts to find the answers to that specific question and using decades of data from Gallup polls found that the most influential leaders do the following (Rath & Conchie 2009);
- Invest in strengths
Focusing on and developing an individual’s strengths boosts engagement from 9% to an incredible 73% and leads to substantial gains for both employees and the organization. - Surround themselves with and invest in a great team
Leaders may not have all the skills needed, but their teams do. - Understand their followers’ needs
Followers often have specific requirements from their leaders.
Central to their findings was the idea that “while our society encourages us to be well-rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds mediocrity” (Rath & Conchie, 2009, p. 7).
Before you can invest in your strengths you do of course need to know what they are. In October 2023 I completed the Clifton Strengths 34 Results. The Clifton Strengths are your talent ‘DNA’, and they present them in rank order based on your responses to the assessment you complete first.
Each of your strengths sits under one of four categories (see below)
- EXECUTING themes help you make things happen.
- INFLUENCING themes help you take charge, speak up and make sure others are heard.
- RELATIONSHIP BUILDING themes help you build strong relationships that hold a team together.
- STRATEGIC THINKING themes help you absorb and analyze information that informs better decisions.
And my ‘top five’ were;
- Maximizer
- Responsibility
- Strategic
- Learner
- Intellection
What was the most beneficial to me personally however was looking at the report to make the most of my strongest Clifton Strength themes but also learning to identify and ‘navigate the rest and maximise my infinite potential.’ To that end my ‘bottom five’ were;
30. Command
31. Woo
32. Restorative
33. Harmony
34. Adaptability
So strategic thinking is a clear theme ‘strength’ with relationship building and influencing themes being overall the weaker/developmental potential themes.
Further details of what each of these strengths mean can be found at the Gallup website here, the next step for me being to see what strengths my colleagues have and how we can best lead in the various projects we work on (and maybe who works on those projects with us based on our teams strengths and strength themes.’)
More to come, watch this space…