Our Leadership in Crisis

Trying to be competent at everything is ineffective

Markus Spiske on Unsplash

A survey commissioned by the World Economic Forum in 2015 found that 86% of people believed their leaders were ill-equipped to solve the major global issues we face today.

Respondents recognized that those in charge needed to be more inspirational and “must mediate, listen and include the opinions of others before making a decision” (Shahid, 2015).

But what makes a great leader?

That was the question a team of experts led by Don Clifton set about answering using decades of data from Gallup polls, 20,000 interviews with leaders, one million work teams, and consultations with 10,000 followers worldwide.

They found that the most influential leaders do the following (Rath & Conchie, 2009):

• Invest in strengths
  Focusing on and developing an individual’s strengths boosts engagement from 9% to an incredible 73% and leads to substantial gains for both employees and the organization.
• Surround themselves with and invest in a great team
  Leaders may not have all the skills needed, but their teams do.
• Understand their followers’ needs
  Followers often have specific requirements from their leaders.