Leadership Capability: How do you create high performing leadership teams that are coherent and aligned?

The fourth industrial revolution[1] was already blurring the lines between our physical, digital and biological spheres however this pandemic has had a fundamental impact on the way we live, work, and interact. Organisations will need to adapt to the shifting behaviours and demand patterns of customers and employees, to new collective concerns and wider societal changes. Will this require a different type of leadership?

Much has been written around leadership capability, in particular the work of Kouzes & Posner[2] resonates. They documented that working at their best leaders ‘challenged, inspired, enabled, modelled and encouraged’, developing and learning from adversity.

There have been few greater tests for many than coronavirus and we contend there will be 5 key qualities of leadership capability essential to thrive in the new normal:

• Make sense. The ability to respond to the unexpected and see through prolonged and constant disruption. Utilising critical thinking, judgement and inquiry to understand potential challenges and play through varying scenarios to articulate the next move in clear and certain terms. Paying attention, being mindful and employing a positive growth mindset are going to be ever more critical skills.
• Connect. Organisations are blending hierarchy with wirearchy[3], recognising the way information, power and authority flows. Leaderships role is to build that connectivity and use it to the organisations advantage. Underpinned by clear, transparent and honest communication that reaches for more compassion and personalisation, and the ability to engage in active listening, inviting and hearing diverse points of view.
• Be purposeful. Change is our constant and volatility ever present. Having a clear sense of purpose based on authentic values is crucial to harness and engage people through constant disruption. Leaders need to “inspire people to do willingly and well what needs to be done”[4] but people need to know that the purpose is achievable and that leaders are doing what they can to ensure their psychological safety.
• Be emotionally conscious. Be aware of how issues, interactions and scenarios affect people in different ways. Understand the importance of trust, support the team by listening and being empathetic. Be visible, patient and present. An exceptional leader should be aware of the shadow they cast through status or authority[5] and recognise how this may silence others.
• Be dynamic. The future of work is going to require greater depths of courage, mental agility, adaptability, decisiveness and resilience amid tremendous uncertainty. Taking quick decisions in the moment and accepting the consequences will be the norm. Give the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ but empower people on the how.

It is exceptional to have all these in a single individual. Highly effective leaders acknowledge that they do not have all the answers. It will be the power of the collective; the leadership team that supports the move from survive to thrive.

Composition and dynamics are the building blocks of the team. Gone are the days of recruiting just for functional expertise. The new normal will require a high performing leadership team with;

• Diversity of thinking but not afraid of healthy challenge, reflection and feedback.
• Agility and adaptability, a team who will persistently reassess. Planning will enable proactivity but as noted by many military personnel “planning matters, not the plan.”[6]
• Trust, cohesiveness and connectedness through open and honest communication. Alignment on purpose and direction is a given, they must build their human connection to operate as an integrated team that trusts and reinforces one another.
• A culture of inquiry and learning. Senior leaders need to build an environment that facilitates the right level of innovation, risk taking and learning that not only energises them as individuals to grow and have fun but that supports the heath of the organisation as a whole.

Leadership capabilities that organisations need most are evolving, but the methods of building those skills have not – organisations will still need to invest in selection, training and development if they are to get the best from their leaders. Leadership is like sport; leaders need to develop muscle memory that kicks in when needed. The good news is that those capabilities are a learnable set of practices. We should also remind ourselves that leadership transcends the hierarchy so although the focus is often on the senior team, capability building can and should start from the ground up.

As HR professionals, supporting the development of your leadership team, your starting point should be a review against these capabilities and an assessment of team alignment, potentially benefiting from an impartial observer. Then support them in resetting dynamics, creating and committing to new habits to build a culture that embraces the desired behaviours and mindset.

[1] Klaus Schwab (Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum) The Fourth Industrial Revolution 2016

[2] The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership by Barry Posner and James M. Kouzes, published 1987

[3] Wirearchy, coined in 1999 by Jon Husband; Cognizant From/To white paper “The future of your work – everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask” 2019

[4] General Sir Richard Sherriff, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Leadership in Crisis Situations Roundtable April 2020

[5] Managers, You’re More Intimidating Than You Think by Megan Reitz and John Higgins, HBR July 2019

[6] General Sir Richard Sherriff, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Leadership in Crisis Situations Roundtable April 2020