There are a greater number of broader issues that organisations are facing, which requires a leader with greater systemic understanding and flexibility than that which is offered through IQ and EQ.
William Torbert, professor at the Carroll school of management in Boston, has found that 55% of leaders are associated with below-average corporate performance. Only 15% of the leaders he studied over 25 years showed a consistent ability to manage innovation and organisational change.
So if we are to believe that training works why is it that so few organisations are producing outstanding leaders. The problem may not be with training but the type of training being undertaken. Most training centres on competency frameworks. Leaders are measured against these frameworks, and analysis of the resulting gaps shows where skills and training are most required.
Richard Bolden research fellow at the centre for leadership studies at Exeter University says that personal skills and abilities are necessary but not sufficient for leadership. He argues that most leadership issues of greatest concern for leaders themselves – vision, trust, personal belief, ethics, moral courage – are not included in most competency frameworks. The emotional, ethical and cultural aspects of leadership are being ignored or sidelined. |
