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The Office, a multi award winning mocumentary, was a portrait of many organisations. Star and co-writer, Ricky Gervais attributes much of the shows success to the fact that, “everyone knows, has had or has a boss akin to David Brent.” He is the guy who bumbles around the office trying to be everyone’s friend, all the while leading his team to failure. Bosses like David Brent believe they have, “created an atmosphere where I am a friend first, boss second. Probably an entertainer third.” In actual fact they are the butt of every joke and the bane of every working life. Sadly becoming a manager doesn’t require passing a basic people-skills test; although many think it should. Like teachers and parents, most bosses think that they are great. Consequently there are more David Brents than Winston Churchills, but all is not lost. Companies are beginning to see fundamental advantages in getting employees out of the office and back to the classroom. In 2003, BusinessWeek reported that 134 companies in 20 different nations spent $210 million (US dollars) on leadership development, enabling 21,000 employees an opportunity to improve their leadership skills. This is not to say leadership development is just for the David Brents of the business world. Conrad Hilton, founder of the first worldwide hotel chain, Hilton Hotels explains, “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.” Not quitting is one step in the right direction. Learning from your mistakes and moving forward is the path to success. Many employees are resistant to the prospect of leadership development. It evokes images of tedious self-analysis, role playing and sitting in ‘circle times’ discussing irrelevant scenarios. However the benefits for enlightened companies were noted in a recent study by the Health Care Innovation Unit and the School of Management, Southampton. They undertook an empirical investigation into the impact of Leadership Development for NHS middle-management staff. The final report concluded that “the intervention had a substantial impact on the individuals taking part. The participants reported improved self-confidence, more reflective and broader thinking, a heightened sense for other people’s behaviours and actions, and some participants also reported the acquisition of useful management tools to initiate and deal with change and its inherent challenges”. Different leadership styles are used to guide, support or dictate employees. A good boss changes his style from person to person, and situation to situation. Inexperienced employees require a leadership style with high levels of support and direction. Unlike David Brent, well developed leaders would not use the same style for experienced staff. One model developed by Tony Cockerill of the London Business School and now used exclusively by the Centre of Higher Performance Development (CHPD), assesses leadership on 11 “High Performance Behaviours” (HPBs). The 11 HPBs can be broken into four clusters: thinking; developing; inspiring; and achieving. CHPD has developed these further, established global standards for defining outstanding leadership. Founded in 1996, CHPD teamed up business and academic partners, including the London Business School and scholars from Harvard, to develop their leadership development programmes. The company has offices in the UK, Australia and the States, and has recently opened an office in India. Having grown from four initial members of staff, CHPD now consists of 60 full time staff and 150 external consultants working in 25 countries across the globe. CHPD stipulates that a “one size fits all policy just doesn’t work,” they suggest, “it leaves too much to chance; everyone has different drivers and motivations. Tapping into these is the key but can appear a daunting task”. Not so daunting for CHPD who have, in the last 11 years, built up an astonishing database of 6,000 leadership profiles. They claim this allows “true benchmarking” not only of their own people, but across the business world. During this time they have increased turnover by £8.3 million, of which they attribute “40% of our success to the capabilities of the leader.” So something can be said for highly developed leadership. One Managing Director of a Professional Services Consultancy highlights his personal gain from the CHPD model: “Now I understand that there isn’t just one successful leader and no one right way to lead,” he confesses that, “by finding my preferences for leadership, I feel much more confident about taking on a leadership role”. So – can leadership be taught? Does Leadership development really work? According to legendary sports coach Vince Lombardi, Yes, "Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."
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Jo-Rosie is representing CHPD. Founded in 1996, CHPD teams up business and academic partners, including the London Business School and scholars from Harvard, to develop their www.chpd.com/> leadership and development programmes. The www.chpd.com/ourcompany > management training company has offices in the UK, Australia and the States, and is now intending to open an office in India. Having grown from four initial members, there are now 60 full time staff and 150 external consultants working in 25 countries across the globe to provide exceptional leadership and www.chpd.com/ourservices/leadershiptraining >team training, helping to find the leaders of tomorrow.
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