Follow the Leader?

Leadership has been at the forefront of topical debate for centuries; the very foundations of history are built upon iconic leaders and their influential decision-making. Some view leadership as an innate characteristic of the great men and women of our time; some as the personal relationship between the individual and the group; while others see it as the process of striving towards common goals and values, or as aspects of behaviour driven by multiple forces in the surrounding environment.

But, what really constitutes a great leader? John Keegan, the eighteenth century military historian, identified hunting as an integral past time of leadership in primitive societies. The deeds of a huntsman required all to be heroes, who so took huge risks to provide food for their tribes and families. As all were regarded as heroes, however, the clear lack of exceptional behaviour made the title of hero very ordinary, sparking internal conflict and imbalance.

This disequilibrium also occurred on the battlefields. Again there were many heroes, and the expectation of the primitive soldier was to “fight as you hunt” – resulting in dispute and violence among groups. It was the elders of these groups, however, who would eventually mediate and negotiate, leading to the emergence of individual leaders, or “natural born leaders” as the term is now engrained in text books around the world.

When it was recognised that physical stature, combined with discipline and communication skills created the more prominent leader, the leadership era on the battlefield was born. The glamorous Prince Rupert, for example, and the brilliant but petulant Napoleon, were the more romantic figures, but ones who would go that little bit further, both physically or intellectually, to grasp a victory.

In today’s organisations, the leadership concept remains, but the complexity of our social and business lives has forced the single leader notion to give way to team-based leadership.

“The modern team leader needs to be not only be aware of their teams strengths and weaknesses but also their strengths and weaknesses,” says Tom Vaughton of Fresh Tracks, an innovative team building and staff development company. “Once this happens a team with a clear vision can successfully tackle the most difficult of challenges.”

But, what defines a bad or unsuccessful leader? The obvious answer would be given by examples of bad leadership, but surprisingly there have been very few documented incidents of poor leadership.

When the rules of leadership are broken – and again, we very rarely hear about it – it is done with instant negative consequences. Surely one of the main “don’ts” of leadership is to criticise your own team, and worse still, get caught doing so in the public domain.

A fine example of this took place in Parliament last month when the Commons Speaker, Michael Martins, publicly blamed and condemned Jill Kay, the Sergeant at Arms, for allowing police to arrest Damian Green without an official warrant. Martins may be a leader, but as we know, power comes with responsibility and sometimes accepting it is the most difficult task.

The same could also be said for Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, who spectacularly slated key members of his own cabinet last month as “useless” and “not equipped” for top jobs, while on a very busy commuter plane. Clegg continued his candidness by blurting out closely guarded plans for an imminent reshuffle during the 90-minute flight as passengers and crew could barely believe their ears. He also conveyed his personal loathing to a number of senior colleagues to round off a perfect display of poor leadership in modern politics.

With November clearly being a popular month for leadership faux pas, Premier League football presented the world with a fine example of how not to act in front of the predatory media. William Gallas, the Arsenal defender, was stripped of his captaincy after publicly attacking the team to the press. Gallas accused several of his team mates of “lacking commitment” and being “in it for the money and fame”. He not only lost his position as captain, but also was fined, and has since alienated himself from the players. Although some footballers may be over-paid or absorbed by the glamorous lifestyle, Gallas should have known that criticising his team mates quite so publically, with details that should perhaps have remained in the dressing room, was a leadership disaster.

“A team leader needs to enhance the self esteem of their team,” continues Tom. “If people believe in themselves, it is amazing what a team can accomplish.”

A good leader exists in every industry, organisation and field, but what separates the good from the great is integrity and discipline. The very best are under constant scrutiny, but may still be remembered in history for one episode of poor leadership, not for a series of good. So, who thinks they have what it takes to be a leader?