Much has been written about what makes a good leader. Books have analysed the nature of leadership. Business schools charge high fees to teach leadership skills to up-and-coming middle managers. And leadership gurus have made fortunes using clever sounding buzz-words such as “demonstrate integrity”, “build trust” and “inspire innovation”.
This week I will be at the UK’s annual “Leadership Conference” in London, a gathering of British diplomacy’s senior managers and Ambassadors. This is the collective leadership of the Foreign Office. If it tells me anything about leadership it is that everyone leads in a different way depending on their personality and ability.
Role models illustrate the same point. People like Mahatma Gandi, Steve Jobs and Alex Ferguson are all regarded as iconic leaders. They inspired loyalty, created a vision, persuaded people to follow them and drove change. But they all did it differently.
So leadership is hard to define; though you know it when you see it. Perhaps it is easier to define what it isn’t. It certainly isn’t making lots of noise, firing off orders or being a know-all.
Listening is a crucial part of leadership. But it is under-rated and under-valued. If bosses want to get something done, they should listen to their staff. In democracy, leaders need to listen to the street. In business, CEOs should explore innovative ideas coming from the shop floor.
By listening you also become sensitive to your environment. By understanding how your staff feel, and by being interested in their ideas, you have a better chance of carrying them with you.
These days, leading and managing change in any environment is tough. The pressures – in politics, in business, in diplomacy – are enormous and many people fear the uncertainty created by those pressures. Employees want leadership, they want to be persuaded that there is a better future. But they also want their leaders to listen to them and feel that they have contributed to the process. Creating the journey together is better than trying to force a reluctant workforce to change.
In short, leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done. To succeed you need to convince them that they want to do it. You won’t get it done just by telling them. Listening to their views will make sure you do it better.