Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility
said consultant Peter F. Drucker.
Success and failure are inevitably placed at the feet of the leader. Whilst enlightened souls might choose to spread praise for achievements to team members, attention invariably is focused, for the purposes of applause and criticism, on the leader.
Though ultimately responsibility for all actions of a group sits on the shoulders of the leader, a number of specific items, regardless of the nature of the enterprise, need the leader’s direct intervention if performance success is to be not only achieved, but integrated into the day-to-day mindset of the group.
• Guidance concerning behavioural policies of group members. These will be sharply defined by the values of the leader and reflect the direction desired by the enterprise itself.
• The well being of the staff, for example in ensuring health and safety directives are adhered to fully.
• Professional development of staff. Whilst an organization may have a dedicated department for human resources questions including training and development, the tone of all activities is most often set by the leader’s attitude to such matters.
• Productivity and performance levels. If the leader is sufficiently capable of creating an environment in which all feel inspired to offer their best, and their best is good enough to reach the desired results, then success will be almost assured.
• Communication between the employees and the organization. No matter how approachable a leader is, staff will always be conscious of the fact he or she represents the employer for them. Any undertakings by the leader will be interpreted as being company sanctioned. This is an important responsibility and one which needs to be clearly understood by anyone assuming the role of leader.
• The external image or face of the company. With the consolidated habit of identifying companies with their leaders – Virgin and Richard Branson, Apple and Steve Jobs, Ryanair and Michael O’Leary – the fortunes of both are tightly connected. In such cases as far as stakeholders are concerned, rightly or wrongly responsibility for the good name of the organization is held directly by the leader.
So, leaders have been seen to possess a number of characteristics all contributing to the overall success of an endeavour. Authenticity, Vision, Empathy, Inspiration and Responsibility have been spotlighted over the course of these recent postings.
Next time we will turn our focus on the question of teamwork. Performance on any stage is rarely achieved by a signal individual. Even a successful one-(wo)man show or a memorable presentation will be have been brought about in collaboration with support staff and the performer.