Inspired Leadership

In 2003, the Department of Trade & Industry's ("DTI") Innovation Review demonstrated that high-performance, innovative organisations require “inspirational leadership, stronger management skills, a highly-trained and motivated workforce ….. and the need for greater resource productivity”. Since then work carried out by the Chartered Management Institute and others has demonstrated that there are clear inspirational gaps in leadership across UK business organisations.

Since then, the DTI, supported by partners such as the CBI, Work Foundation, IoD, Investors In People, British Quality Foundation, the Chartered Management Institute, the Strategic Planning Society and the Learning Skills Council, has identified six essential elements of “inspirational leadership”, namely:

	genuinely caring about people
	involving everybody
	showing lots of appreciation
	ensuring work is fun
	showing real trust
	listening a lot

In a subsequent survey of leaders and followers, the most common characteristics of leaders were revealed as:

	strong communication, much storytelling and listening.
	a passion for learning and intense curiosity
	focus on developing people.
	having fun and very energised
	strong self belief coupled with humanity and humility
	making a significant difference
	clarity of vision and the ability to share it with their “followers”
	determination to the point of relentlessness
	very strong focus on priorities
	not afraid to show some vulnerability
	regular use of reflective periods
	almost universal dislike of jargon
	passion for, and pride in, what they do

In the 2.5 years since the DTI leadership survey was published, little appears to have changed within corporate UK. Followers still report inspiration gaps, for example “ leaders are genuinely in touch with how people are feeling.” (62% disagree). Today, managers demand visionary leaders who win results. as well as earning the respect and trust of their teams.

Businesses are no longer stable or predictable organisations but instead keep on having to change to meet the demands other markets. Inspirational leaders are required to keep their followers motivated and committed in a time of constant change.

Cultures evolve over many years and are usually deep rooted making it difficult to effect change. Some industrial psychologists have observed that it is easier to change behaviour by changing processes and systems rather than changing peoples’ attitudes. The DTI 2003 survey showed that over half of managers in British businesses and public sector organisations had not evolved to meet the needs of a high-performance workplace. Three years on, still too many managers exhibit excessive bureaucracy and command and control behaviours, which have a tendency to inhibit, rather than improve, individual and organisational performance.

At the end of 2005, the DTI launched its Inspirational Leadership: Insight to Action tool that aims to give you greater insight into your leadership strengths. The tool is a web-based questionnaire that gives an immediate feed-back on your leadership strengths and weaknesses along with suggestions as to how to play to your strengths and how to overcome your weaknesses. You can find the DTI’s leadership assessment tool at:

http://www.inspiredleadership.org.uk

Sheila Browning will be delighted to discuss how you can develop the leadership within your organisation. You can contact her by email at Sheila.Browning@4-consulting.com.

Sheila Browning is an associate consultant of 4-consulting, click here to view her profile.

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