We need leaders who can help us navigate the complex and peculiar situation we have found ourselves. While the financial economy does not seem to be pregnant with great fortunes for many businesses, the health sector is not smiling. Growth seems to have become a preserve of a few, while profits seem farfetched. From observation and experience, what we need are leaders in the workplace, marketplace, in government and families.
Let me quickly say, leadership transcends a position. It is not an office nor a title. True leadership is about becoming the best of yourself as well as helping others realise their potential. Leadership is the ability and willingness to recognise potentials in people, influence and inspire them to achieve their goals. I dare say, the greatest need in the world today is Leadership. However, make no mistakes about it: The cost of leadership is quite high as it involves self-sacrifice, integrity, selflessness, strict discipline, these are non-negotiable prices.
While the essence of leadership is service, a deeper revelation is that it is about solving real and complex problems, for others. It is about meeting the needs of people. Therefore, leadership coaching is a critical and strategic conversation. Leadership development speaks of the activities that improve the skills, abilities, and confidence of leaders. According to Baldwin and Ford (1988), the success of leadership development is influenced heavily by the quality of the programme, level of support and acceptance from superiors, the characteristics/learning style of the person being developed.
With the demands for succession management skyrocketing and the need to find smarter ways to engage high performers rising, the leadership development quotient per organisation must increase. The neglect of leadership development has put organisations in a dilemma of non-continuity and stunted growth. The greatest asset any leader can have is its people. They bring the dream and vision of the organisation to a reality. Leaders need to develop potential leaders because it helps to increase the success level of leadership, increases the growth potential of the organisation, deepens commitment on the part of the people and enhances the future.
Any organisation that embraces the concept of leadership development has immeasurably moved beyond its peers. For such an organisation, the sky ceases to be its limit. It only becomes the starting point for their success. Such businesses have shown significant improvement in its operations and people which has increased the growth potential of the organisation. However, the big question to ask is: How effective are leadership development programs? An estimated $62 billion was spent worldwide on leadership development initiatives in 2014. And yet, the numbers on the effectiveness of leadership development and coaching programs is both shocking and depressing.
Why is this the case?
According to Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan (2004) survey, eight large multinational companies were studied on their various leadership development initiatives. The comprehensive study with over 86,000 leaders and executives globally, concluded that most leadership development programs fail because of a lack of focus on stakeholders. According to another survey by the same organisation, studying over 11,000 leaders in 4 continents, 95% of them stated that using leadership coaching centred on how to manage their stakeholders improved their effectiveness exponentially. To deploy a leadership development and coaching program that cuts across all stakeholders and focuses on how to ramp-up stakeholder leadership (not just management) skills is not an easy task. At pcl. we have over 28 years of experience helping and partnering with organisations to achieve this.
If you are interested in our customised leadership development and coaching service, kindly send an email to people@phillispconsulting.net
Written by:
Joshua Ademuwagun
Head of Advisory, People Transformation
