My personal philosophy of leadership, mentoring and coaching

Leadership skills and behaviours

The fundamental principle of leadership is concern for the success and well-being of followers.  The purpose of leadership is to make one’s followers successful, for through their success the leader will also be a success.  But the well-being of followers is also crucial.  There is no point winning a battle if all one’s soldiers lay dead on the battlefield.

How should a leader behave in adhering to this principle?  Firstly, a leader must always strive to make the ‘right’ decision.  Not just the correct decision, but one that is morally sound.  It is not valid for leaders to say “they had no choice”.  Leaders must not embrace determinism – that is moral bankruptcy.  Having made a decision, a leader must engage directly (face-to-face, wherever possible) with followers to develop a shared understanding, and to help followers make sense of the decision.  In these engagements, the leader must always be truthful and consistent – actions must match words.  Whatever the consequences of the decision, a leader must take responsibility for the outcome, accepting blame for failure while giving credit to the followers for any success.

Secondly, a leader must focus on “making a difference”, not on trivial matters.  Leadership is about leaps, not steps.  A leader must focus on the higher purpose of their organisation’s existence – whether it be to serve customers or a community.  This higher purpose both defines success and unites followers behind a common cause, at the same time motivating followers to strive for success.

Finally, a leader must seek to develop followers, in both their technical competence and their emotional maturity.  This requires a leader to coach and mentor followers so that they may create success for themselves.

Facets of Poor Leadership

There are three dangers or lapses that make for poor leadership.  They arise from a leaders misconception of their own capability.  Leaders fail when they believe that they are omniscient, omnipotent and infallible.

Omniscience

Leaders may suffer from attribution bias – believing that the success of their organisation (business, team, nation) is due to their own knowledge and competence.  Any failure or under-performance is due to external factors (government policy, weather, foreigners).  Leaders who believe themselves omniscient make decisions for their followers and supervise their activity.

Good leaders understand that followers know more of what is the actuality, and that they should be given support and encouragement to take appropriate action themselves.

Good leaders also understand that they are not the only possible source of leadership.  The leadership “need” depends on the context, and a good leader knows when to defer to a “better” leader.

Omnipotence

Poor leaders believe that they can lead by commandment, that what they say must happen will, in fact, happen.  Good leaders understand that this is not the case, and they devolve power to their followers.  This not only empowers the followers but, by placing power where its effect is more directly seen and felt, a leader reduces the risk of accidentally causing “undeserved harm”.

Infallibility

Good leaders accept that they will make mistakes.  They also understand that mistakes lead to improvement.  When accepting that mistakes are inevitable, a good leader takes action that minimises or mitigates the consequences of mistakes.  A good leader is always in control, without needing to exercise overt control.