Leadership concepts and principles

Leadership

There are a number of different approaches to leadership development. At different leadership levels, the skills and tasks required to excel can be quite different, but an organization should have a pathway that recognizes these differences while allowing for skills development and personal growth to move leaders from one level to another. A first-line supervisor is learning the basics of organization and motivation, and typically does so within a tight framework. There is only limited opportunity for creativity -- at this level the leader is building the basic skills of dealing with people and implementing systems. Turnover at this level can be high, and it might be too early to identify potential top performers. The company should have the ability to find people at this level who are capable of moving on, however, and begin to get them into a position where they are managing managers. Skills development here can be encouraged by rotating these managers through different jobs, in particular finding ways to challenge them so that the company can identify the managers who are most adaptable and capable of handling adverse circumstances (WSJ, 2014).

The next level of leadership is that middle manager. This is a level where many peak, and as such it is also the most important level for a company. The company needs to find middle managers who are capable of the creativity and the higher level thinking skills that they will need to move beyond this middle management level. By this point the company should continue rotating the managers through different areas of the company, especially ones with the creativity and leadership that make them good candidates to move onward into senior management. By this point, any strong candidates should have mentors.

Senior management development is something where by that point candidates need to be identified and put into the succession plan. The top senior managers need to have relationships forged with the leaders of the organization, such that they are building the knowledge, contacts and vision that will allow them to transition to the C-suite (Graen & Bien, 1995). At this point in the leader's development pathway, the fundamental skills should have been fully developed prior to leaving middle management. Leadership at the senior management level is much more about relationships, creativity, vision and communication than about functional-level organizing and individual personnel management.

In the C-suite, the company does not really need to take an active role in leadership development -- nobody should ever end up in one of those positions who is not a strong leader with an established track record. That said, there is a need for the company to have a success plan so that when the CEO leaves, the company has strong candidates within the executive team that can take over. At this stage of leadership development, the process is entirely about grooming the best people, and teaching them to think the company at the highest level, in particular working closely with both the existing CEO and the members of the Board who have high-level experience.

2.

Strategic leadership is quite different from operational leadership. Operational leadership refers to the lower levels of the organization, where day-to-day operating decisions are made. This type of leadership is pragmatic in nature. This type of leader creates the systems that allow the organization to implement its plans on a daily basis -- envisioning the infrastructure and framework, structures and incentives that will deploy the resources of the organization towards its objectives (Martin, 2011). This type of leadership is visionary at the small scale level, but requires a high level of attention to detail and the ability to directly motivate the other employees within the organization.

By contrast, strategic leadership is big picture in nature and visionary. Strategic leadership is where the organization is guided, and is the place where the entire direction of the organization is developed -- so envisioning the culture of the organization, what businesses and countries to operate in, and defining the values and vision of the organization (CCL, 2014). Thus, strategic leadership is the pattern of choices that seek to assure the continued success of the organization, which stands in contrast to operational leadership which is focused on smaller scales and shorter time frames.

3.

Larger companies tend to have all different leadership styles. These companies need to have a focus on strategic leadership at the highest levels, because they have to deliver sustained success for the shareholders, and such companies take a view of themselves as perpetually-enduring entities. So leadership of larger companies look at what markets they want to operate in, what industries, and what their macrolevel strategy is going to be. This style of leadership is important because the largest of companies usually has a global perspective and operates in multiple industries or sectors. Decision making at leadership at this level reflects that.

Because larger companies are so complex, other leadership styles are also required, throughout the company. Tactical leadership is required in order to run the individual businesses, for example, making decisions about individual products, distribution channels and human resources. This level mirrors to some degree the strategic level, but on a small scale because it concerns only a portion of the businesses. Tactical time frames are a little bit shorter as well, as they are less concerned with the long run.

Organizations of size also have a tremendous need for operational leadership, because of the number of operations within the company. Vast organizations will often have specific programs to ensure a constant supply of great operational leaders, as operations are often the foundation on which a very large business can be built. Operational leaders are the ones whose roles implement strategy, so while strategic leadership is necessary, it could never be implemented without the other levels of leadership in an organization.