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The end of leadership is a pretty bold statement! If you look around you will see some very dramatic changes in the world. I believe that our traditional leadership structures are falling away and a new form of leadership is emerging.
In fact the genesis of this bold statement came from Warren Bennis, a pioneer of the field of contemporary Leadership Studies, in his article, “The End of Leadership: Exemplary Leadership is Impossible Without the Full Inclusion, Initiatives, and Cooperation of Followers”. Bennis previously had been an advocate of TOPdown leadership. After being asked to debate against his TOPdown position, Bennis came to a startling conclusion, he writes, “I came to the unmistakable revelation that TOPdown leadership was not only wrong, unrealistic and maladaptive but also given the report of history, dangerous.”
My experience as an executive coach brings me to the same conclusion. Leaders are struggling to connect with their workforce in a way that brings engagement, personal accountability, loyalty and high levels of results. This lack of accountability for results is a very frustrating situation for leaders.
Our past beliefs, and subsequent strategies about leadership are no longer relevant. There are a number of factors that have brought this about.
Failure of Leaders
Some of our most revered political leaders and corporate CEOs have been caught in outright lies that have undermined the credibility and trust we have traditionally bestowed upon them. These leadership failures have created a backdrop of cynicism and doubt amongst the broader group of followers.
“Pay Less, Get More” Mentality
The next factor is the extremely high expectations of consumers. As consumers, we expect high levels of deliverables from everywhere we exchange our time and money. With the advent of warehouse stores, major discounters selling everything, we expect to “pay less and get more.” In fact, that is one of the most successful and popular marketing slogans in retail. This mindset spills over into the employee/employer relationship. People want to give less and be paid more. Deep down I would like to think that people are fair and are willing to have a fair exchange for their time for money but they get caught in the cultural drift of “give less, get more” mentality.
Get a Trophy for Just Showing Up
Let’s layer on another dynamic. I do not know if you have raised children lately, but we started giving trophies just for participating on a team. This new cultural norm has created an expectation of reward and recognition for just showing up. There are bodies of research now revealing that this may not be the best approach in terms of teaching young people how to work hard and achieve something. Parents are afraid to let their children feel anything other than “success” and they have no idea how to deal with adversity or disappointments that might come their way as adults. They expect to be promoted to vice president within a couple of years after college.
People Want More Satisfaction and Meaning
In a recent poll by the Conference Board, the 90 year old business research organization, it appears that job satisfaction is at an all time low. This is another indication that our current forms of leadership are not creating work environments that have people satisfied and engaged.
As we look at the cultural context of leadership today we see a shift occurring in the employee-employer relationship. Cultural context is the background of experiences and beliefs that are shaping our collective thinking. This is the cultural context in which business is done today. We have four dynamics:
- Cynicism due to major leadership failures
- Give less be paid more mentality
- Reward and recognition for just showing up
- People want more satisfaction and meaning
How easy it must have been in the days of leadership 50 years ago! “Work hard, don’t complain and you’re lucky to have a job.” Well, ladies and gentleman, we are not in Kansas anymore.
So, it is really not the end of leadership, but leadership as we know it is no longer effective. So, what type of leadership is best suited for today’s business world?