Leadership

I spend a great deal of my time coaching executives on how to become more effective leaders and managers. An important part of this work is to help them develop good relationships with their key staff and stakeholders. We explore different ways of influencing, motivating, and leading people and by extending their skills — I help executives to get the best out of their people.

A common response when I ask executives about their leadership or management styles is: "I just focus on tasks and results," or, "I'm a people person." It can take a while to convince them that to be really successful, executives have to master both sides of the equation. Fortunately, I am not the only one passing on this message — the best companies reinforce this by promoting and developing senior executives on the strength of both sets of skills.

However, I have noticed that the financial crisis has undermined these good practices. Command-and-control leaders are back in fashion and companies appear to be condoning it. I had my first direct confirmation of this last year, when I called a German CFO to check on how she had been progressing with her action plan following our coaching sessions. When we met in London three months earlier, she had complained of a lack of motivation and accountability in her team. We had agreed that she should focus her efforts on active listening, coaching, and more delegation to galvanise the team. "How are you getting on with your team?" I asked. "Have your new approaches worked?"