Leadership in Tough Times - What the Current Crisis Tell Us

As we the see the papers filled with the harrowing pictures of the fall of major financial institutions – its not surprising that so many people are asking where did it all go wrong?

Like many things in life it is often a number of factors that come together that create the crisis – but one that often stands out as pivotal is leadership.  If we look at the reams of press columns that have been written about Lehman Bros, AIG and in the UK – HBOS, we can see some of the most unhealthy characteristics of leaders as mavericks that have contributed to their demise. 

Leadership can take on many forms & the Maverick is probably the most well known.  Ambitious, demanding & visionary, Maverick leaders can turn around failing organisations and become the powerhouse for growth and diversification.  But like the saying goes “When they are good, they are very very good and when they are bad they are horrid”.

The challenge for many leaders is knowing when to turn on the ‘Maverick’ leadership style, and when to switch to an altogether different style. 

At various points in a leaders career they need to access and use a range of styles and the most successful leaders are able to do this – such as Sir Stuart Rose in the UK & Jack Welch in the US. 

But what we see with recent credit crunch victims such as the demise of Lehman Brothers is leaders who stay in the maverick role and become intoxicated with the power that it holds.  Early warning signs include:

• A dogmatic management style – slavishly following a route, even if there are early signs of failure as always being right is uppermost motivation
• A communications style that is almost always on transmit and rarely on receive.
• A tendency to have a compliant management team & board – by creating a culture of fear or general intolerance of questioning & challenging
• Long serving & unchallenged leaders who over-value themselves and in Lehman’s case their company

The lesson for other leaders is clear. 

• There is a need to be mindful of the messages that are coming from the competitive environment about your business priorities. 

• There is a need to continue to listen to your staff and to your business peers.

• There is also the need to surround yourself with a diverse and challenging team to keep your most dominant (maverick?) traits in check.

The  Agents2Change team would love to hear your views about this article and the role of Mavericks – is it the only style that works, or one that is best avoided?

Comments

[jerry]

i love your penertrated ideas,and i want to exchange some ideas aout the management when we face crisis.iam jery come from CHina

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Jerry, Very pleased to hear from you. China of course has some unique management and leadership issues, some of which might be captured in these blogs. However you can also visit our site : http://www.agents2change.com or email me at [email protected], if you would like any further information. Thank you for your interest.

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