Leadership is one of those words that cannot be described as a ‘one size fits all’. Being one of those words that are debated ceaselessly, the literal meaning of the word classically brings forth a wide spectrum of individual opinions that describe an individual’s personality attributes, characteristics and even their behavior. However, irrespective of the arena, organizations flourish with leaders.
Have you ever got a chance in your life to be a part of an organization where employees were productive, where processes progressed smoothly, where employees were able to achieve their goals and last but not the least, the organization was reasonably doing well?
And then all of a sudden, a new leader joined the organization and then everything improved abruptly – the energy levels of employees went substantially up, employee satisfaction and organizational commitment increased; the dedication of employees climbed, bold objectives were accepted enthusiastically and greater results were achieved.
These differences could be noticed by everyone. Perhaps you had an altogether different experience. You worked for an organization that was performing reasonably well and then suddenly a new leader joined the organization and then things started falling apart.
You noticed the top performers of the company quitting, employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment reduced substantially; conflicts became more common, work suddenly seemed boring, your co-workers skulked into corners, not wanting to be engaged. The overall satisfaction level decreased.
Complaining and grousing criticism became out of control. Employees getting promotions were not promoted on the basis of their performance; they were picked merely because of politics. The decisions of the management felt unfair and arbitrary.
Sales figures began to decrease, top employees were laid off, and the rest of the employees faced a greater work load. Sales figures continued to show the downward trend, jobs began to seem harder and you started to think about escaping from misery and depression.
So, Who are Exceptional Leaders
As the focus is shifted from what attributes make exceptional leaders, some important questions emerge to the surface;
- From where do exceptional leaders come?
- Is it possible to develop such kind of leadership? Or is it just a plain issue of picking a natural born leader?
- How should organizations identify such leaders?
- In what way are these leaders different from their colleagues?
- What measures can be taken to develop more of such leaders that can contribute a great deal of positivity and growth, whilst avoiding those that may cause the organization to nose dive?
- Is it possible for existing leaders to acquire the traits and behaviors of the exceptional ones?
- Why is that some organizations succeed at producing a continuous flow of such leaders whilst other organizations struggle with repeated missteps in developing and selecting them?
“Organizational Performance cannot be Divorced From Executive Leadership. The Executives must learn. Grow and co-develop with the organization”- Dr. Karl Albercht
It is commonly believed that the success of an organization is tied directly to the abilities and strengths of a leader. Contemporary leadership experts agree that it is not necessary for exceptional leaders to be born.
It may also be true that some individuals have personality attributes that make them seem like natural leaders, and that there are some individuals that when got exposed to environments that pulled them from their comfort zones to face bold situations required them to learn leadership competencies. Leadership nevertheless is open to everyone that is willing to accept the challenge.
