Organisational Change Is Impossible Without People Change

The reason why so many organisational transformation initiatives fail to deliver on their promises is because they are too much about changing things and too little about changing people. That things need to change for organisations to thrive or even survive is indisputable. New structures, operating models, technology, systems and processes can all make a...

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June 2022 – Question Of The Month

Question: Does Legitimate Leadership oppose the management of people?  Answer:  Our plea is: please don’t manage people, lead them. Because when you manage people you reduce them to the status of things. Legitimate Leadership has a clear view of the distinction between management and leadership: management is what you apply to things; leadership pertains to...

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Legitimate Leadership’s Roots In Workplace Safety

Wendy Lambourne, director of Legitimate Leadership, was recently interviewed by Christian Hunt for the HumanRisk podcast. Hunt founded UK-based HumanRisk (www.human-risk.com) to ‘bring behavioural science to ethics and compliance’ in helping organisations to understand and minimize human risk. In the podcast Wendy set out the origins and basic tenets of Legitimate Leadership. Below is our...

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Being Methodical About Empowerment

In the Legitimate Leadership Framework there are five steps to guide managers in effectively handing over control. In a recent discussion with managers, they pointed out two instances in which following the five steps methodically prevented them from rushing through and endangering the success of the process. The five steps in the Legitimate Leadership Framework...

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May 2022 – Question Of The Month

Question:  How can leaders hold their people appropriately accountable without fear of being held up for bullying or harassment?  Answer: This question frequently crops up with Legitimate Leadership consultants. As organisations rightfully focus on how to create safe environments for their people to work without fear of discrimination, it is also important to ensure that...

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Trusting Team Members Results In Positive Asymmetry

From the Brain Food blog archive. COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY ANGELA DONNELLY, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP CANADA: Fascination with game theory, specifically as it relates to co-operative versus self-interested behaviour and outcomes led me to this article. I enjoyed the parallels to the Legitimate Leadership Framework and specifically the important role trust plays when leaders empower...

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What Should We Hold Our People Accountable For? (Clue: It’s Not Results)

A few years ago I facilitated discussions in South Africa, the USA and Mexico, where I posed this question – with some varied responses, but an unsurprising theme emerging. I thought I would re-post this article because the conclusions remain relevant today. Many organisation’s incentive schemes rely largely on financial outcomes so it shouldn’t seem...

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April 2022 – Question Of The Month

Question:  What should I as an employee do when my annual appraisal comes as a totally negative surprise?  Answer: Never leave the room with any doubt as to the expectation required. In the short term this can feel rather over-the-top, but in my experience it is best to make sure you are working on the value-adding...

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If You Want Good Safety Culture, Focus On Your Leadership Practice

Many organisations talk about the creation of an appropriate safety culture, but in practice, how is this addressed? Safety culture is fundamentally a subset of the organisational culture or ‘how we do things round here’. At Legitimate Leadership we believe that this is determined by how leaders within the organisation are motivated and behave. Indeed,...

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Are Your Employee Survey Results Plateauing Despite You Going Overboard On Engagement?

There is a difference between Engagement, Enablement and Empowerment! A lot of employers are becoming increasingly frustrated that despite having comprehensive engagement plans, their employee survey results are firmly stuck in the mediocre position. The three ‘E’ words are bandied about frequently in today’s business environment – but are we using them interchangeably and confusing...

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Organisational Change Is Impossible Without People Change

The reason why so many organisational transformation initiatives fail to deliver on their promises is because they are too much about changing things and too little about changing people. That things need to change for organisations to thrive or even survive is indisputable. New structures, operating models, technology, systems and processes can all make a...

View full article