February 2021 – Question of the Month

Question of the Month: What should a Legitimate Leadership intervention deliver? Answer: Our standard answer is that it should deliver an organization characterised by legitimacy, trust, contribution and accountability – all of which then impacts on the results. However here are two more developed characterisations: That those in leadership roles will be able to answer ‘yes’ to...

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Why Legitimate Leadership Comes From South Africa

The Legitimate Leadership Model, in essence, strives to increase trust between management and non-management in all kinds of organisations; it strives to decrease the fraction of the workforce which is disaffected and disengaged, and increase the fraction which is pro-establishment. It is no coincidence that South Africa has been, and still is, a country where...

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Leading Remotely? Stay Connected By Being Sincere, Deliberate And Courageous

“How do I stay connected to my people when they’re working remotely?” “How can I show people that I care without seeming like I’m prying?” These are questions that have been raised repeatedly by managers grappling with remote leadership for the first time. The answer to neither question is simple – relationships are, after all,...

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Passing the Intent Test is an Everyday Opportunity

In our introductory programmes one of the issues we work through is the idea of the Intent test.  Legitimate Leadership argues that the only real measure we have of whether we can trust someone is whether they are able to suspend their agenda for ours; whether they are able to set aside their self-interest, and...

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Ability and Accountability and the Hard and Soft Mistakes

A central precept of Legitimate Leadership is that a leader gains the trust of his subordinates by the provision of care and growth. Care and growth is actualised by the leader giving people the means and ability to do the job and then holding them appropriately accountable for performance. Once this is consistently demonstrated over...

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Want to Know How You Are Doing as a Leader? Just Ask Your People!

Legitimate Leadership believes that if one truly wants to know how a leader is doing, the best judges are the very people who depend on that person for leadership.  We incorporate this principle into our approach to transforming leaders by conducting Leadership Surveys for each participant. These surveys diagnose how the leader is perceived to...

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Unleashing Employee Engagement in the Organisation

In 2015 Legitimate Leadership introduced the first Grow to Care workshops. These are intended for employees who do not have others reporting to them. Although the fundamental precepts of leadership are covered, the focus is not on leadership as such but rather on establishing the criteria for excellence in individual contribution and on gaining commitment...

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The Importance Of Having A Vision Or Objective Which Solicits The Intention To Contribute

Excellence in an organisation can only be achieved on the basis of the overall willingness of its members to contribute significantly more than what they take out. In other words, they need to suspend their self-interest in the interests of others. As the above has become more widely appreciated, companies have put in place various...

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If You Want To Make Dotted Line Reporting Work, You Need To Do 3 Things

Effective leadership is easier said than done at the best of times. Leading with legitimacy is not necessarily difficult (it’s a simple matter of choosing giving over taking really), but it is certainly hard. When it comes to leading, knowing and doing are not the same thing. However, when you introduce dotted lines, what started...

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Failing the Intent Test Doesn’t Just Erode Trust, It Contributes to Employee Mediocrity

In a previous newsletter I wrote about how “passing the intent test” is an everyday opportunity. We often find ourselves in conversations with clients around this issue – in particular when discussing the very difficult question of continually trying to balance care and accountability. Managers often see this balance as something that cannot be sustained...

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February 2021 – Question of the Month

Question of the Month: What should a Legitimate Leadership intervention deliver? Answer: Our standard answer is that it should deliver an organization characterised by legitimacy, trust, contribution and accountability – all of which then impacts on the results. However here are two more developed characterisations: That those in leadership roles will be able to answer ‘yes’ to...

View full article