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In a growing and living organisation, how do you ensure that Legitimate Leadership is maintained?
Whether trust is granted to a manager, or withheld, by employees is not a function of behaviour but of the manager’s intent …
Care is what one person does for another. In the context of legitimate relationships of power at work, it is what managers do for those …
Leaders are so often so concerned about their status or their position in the organization that they actually forget their real job …
Question of the Month
By Leonie van Tonder
Question: In a growing and living organisation, how do you ensure that Legitimate Leadership is maintained?
Answer: Rolling out Legitimate Leadership in an organisation usually begins with a two-day introduction followed by a set of application modules, to the leadership group. In bigger organisations roll-out is normally done in layers of reporting structures, going downwards. This may take 18 months to two years.
In a growing and living organisation, a number of resignations and appointments will happen during this time. To create a positive continuation of roll-out and application of the Legitimate Leadership Model, you need all on board.
The challenge is to keep new staff in the loop of the Legitimate Leadership Model and to replace the people lost and roles they played … Read the full answer by clicking here
VIGNETTE CASE STUDY: IT IS NOT ABOUT BEHAVIOUR, IT IS ABOUT INTENT
By Josh Hayman, associate, Legitimate Leadership.
Whether trust is granted to a manager, or withheld, by employees is not a function of behaviour but of the manager’s intent. In other words, “what” managers do to their people in terms of behaviour is not nearly as important as “why” they do it.
The above is central to the Legitimate Leadership Model.
Conceptually, it sounds sensible. Practically, there is a counter argument to this: surely there is a level of “hard behaviour” (think disrespectful language / shouting / verbally abusive behaviour) that would never be tolerated regardless of the intent behind it?
Intent is all well and good, but if you don’t talk to people respectfully, intent doesn’t matter … right? In my early consulting work, I subscribed to this argument.
But in 2013 I learned the truth of the Legitimate Leadership proposition in the tough environs of the South African platinum mining industry.
READ THE FULL CASE STUDY BY CLICKING HERE
ARTICLE: WHAT MANAGERS WHO CARE ACTUALLY DO
By Wendy Lambourne, director, Legitimate Leadership.
Care is what one person does for another. In the context of legitimate relationships of power at work, it is what managers do for those in their charge. To Care for someone essentially means to have their best interests at heart. It is about serving the needs of the other person before one’s own.
Good parents instinctively put the child’s interests first because they care unconditionally. Good managers similarly put their employees’ interests first.
For most managers, unlike parents however, this is not an instinctive choice. Rather, it is a deliberate choice that they make repeatedly over time. Care is something, in other words, which managers foster over the course of the reporting relationship they have with those in their charge.
Care moreover is definitely not a “soft and fluffy thing”. Care in the heart is evidenced in both “soft” and “hard” behaviours.
VIDEO: MOST LEADERS DON’T EVEN KNOW THE GAME THEY ARE IN
By Simon Sinek, American author on leadership and motivational speaker.
COMMENT ON THIS VIDEO BY WENDY LAMBOURNE OF LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Leaders should be judged on the calibre of their people, not business results, because their job is not to produce results but to cultivate people. As Simon Sinek says, the real job of a leader is to take care of (and grow, according to Legitimate Leadership) those in his/her charge. Not all people want to lead but those who do can absolutely learn the behaviours and leadership practices which are aligned to the care and the growth role. From our experience it typically takes 12-18 months for leaders to develop competence and confidence in leading others. This investment in time and money is well worth it. Companies do not put people in charge of expensive technology without training them. So why put people in charge of other people’s lives without preparing them to succeed at doing so?
OUR EXCERPT FROM THIS VIDEO: There are two things that great leaders need to have: empathy and perspective. These things are very often forgotten.
Leaders are so often so concerned about their status or their position in the organization that they actually forget their real job.
The real job of a leader is not about being in charge, it’s about taking care of those in our charge.
I don’t think people realize this and I don’t think people train for this.
READ THE FULL SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE