Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Transformational leaders, and organizations, have a strong set of internalized
values and ideals which raise the game emotionally and intellectually for all concerned.
The overarching goal of leadership is to motivate, to inspire and sometimes to be
morally uplifting (Avolio, 1999). Anderson seemed to perfectly fit the model of the
transformational leader - offering a vision, shaping an organization, creating trust
and creatively deploying his personal strengths.
However, this may not be enough. Julia Middleton (2007), founder and Chief
Executive of the leadership training enterprise Common Purpose, argues that in
virtually every sector, conventional boundaries are dissolving, with traditional forms
of authority becoming less clear and less relevant. Unfortunately, many organizations
still operate in silos, with leaders focusing exclusively on their own responsibilities.
In an increasingly interconnected world, however, this occurs at the expense of
context, which renders leaders vulnerable to threats or unable to see opportunities.
For Middleton, leaders must understand the value of diverse networks that extend
beyond their zones of comfort, familiarity and even competence. In these new
circumstances, they must rely on influence rather than power because they are in
effect operating beyond their authority. In a world where partnership, collaboration
and co-operation is becoming increasingly necessary, leaders and decision-makers of
all descriptions cannot afford to operate in isolation. By working in what Middleton
terms 'the outer circles', leaders are able to detect small but significant changes in
the environment that may sooner or later impact seriously on their immediate sphere
of influence, control and responsibility. This 'environmental scanning' is essential
for being able to move forward in a dynamic and proactive manner. However,
leaders need to maintain an independence of mind that combines self-confidence
with a degree of humility. In a complex, complicated, changing, connected and
uncertain world it is quite easy to be wrong. So what becomes really important is
the ability to communicate effectively across different cultural fields and to supplement
traditional leadership tools with others. A corollary of this, following on from the
work of Wielkiewicz and Stelzner (2005), is that there needs to be a balance in most
organizations between vesting power in a positional leader - the person at the top
- and having a diverse selection of organizational members who can influence and
inform the leadership process. Thus, drawing on an ecological system they write:
'leadership occurs in a web of interdependent social and biological systems' and
'adaptability is determined by the richness and variability of feedback loops allowed
to influence leadership processes' (2005: 332).
For Heifetz (1994),
followers
are important too, because just as good leaders may
reflect the problems back to where they have to be solved, it is the followers who
also rectify the consequences of mistakes that leaders must inevitably sometimes
make. Heifetz (1999) feels that students of leadership have spent too much time
examining resistance to change, because change is frequently welcomed and when
it is not, it is usually the result of change representing the possibility of loss, appre-
hension, fear and anxiety. Changes representing gains of some description are usually
most welcome, but the past must not be forgotten or dismissed in its entirety.
Leadership involves mobilizing people's capacity, whether in business, the community
or wider society, to select and carry with them what is essential from their past,
enabling them to adapt better to the present and emerging future than they would
have otherwise. And the better people adapt, the more innovative they become and
the more able they are to fashion an active or creative consciousness. When this
