Unit 1, Listening 2, Myths of Effective Leadership

 

Myths of Effective Leadership

Speaker:              Podcasts from the Leading Effectively series are provided by the Center for Creative Leadership, an educational institution dedicated exclusively to leadership development and research worldwide. Information available at www.ccl.org. Today’s topic: myths of effective leadership.

There’s a difference between leadership and power. Successful executives know that difference and lead their teams more effectively because of it. Unfortunately, many executives on the rise in an organization forget the leadership skills and contacts that put their careers on track[1] in the first place.

A study by the Center for Creative Leadership shows that as executives advance in a company, they begin to blur[2] the lines between leadership, power, and influence. They see themselves as more intelligent and capable than those around them in the organization. They see people who agree with them as more capable, intelligent, and ethical than those who might disagree.

The result? Executives get affirmation from a small, expected group, which inflates[3] their idea of how powerful and influential they are among the people who work with them. Their influence becomes constricted[4], and their leadership erodes[5].

Some people overtly[6] use power to accomplish their goals, says CCL’s Pete Hammett, who is also the author of Unbalanced Influence. He says others become used to having tools of power, such as the ability to dictate[7] and set agendas[8].

Over time, that access to power distorts[9] an executive’s influence in the organization. They may have the title and power, but their disenfranchised[10] team members won’t see them as an effective leader. Those with different opinions choose to remain silent. Or they leave. With them, they take away a whole range of ideas. CCL and Hammett recommend that executives calibrate[11] their spheres of influence[12] and see whether their team members perceive them as leaders or merely as suits with powerful titles.

Here are three ways to proceed:

Number 1: Find and listen to other voices. A leader should keep in touch with new ideas and fresh perspectives. If all you’re hearing is one voice, then invite others to the conversation, and let them know you really want to hear them.

Number 2: Find a sparring partner[13]. Find someone who’s comfortable and capable of taking an opposing point of view. That doesn’t mean you should seek out every malcontent[14] in an operation. It means you should find someone who is intelligent, thoughtful, and open to tackling a discussion from an opposing view. Don’t be seen as a leader who refuses to listen to different ideas or, worse, one who penalizes people for suggesting them.

Number 3: Leadership can be cultivated, but only in a self-aware person. Sign up for a leadership program. Get some feedback that assesses your leadership style. Make a point to hold a mirror up[15] to your conversations and interactions within your organization. Only by seeing yourself through others’ eyes can you go from someone who holds power to someone who leads.


[1] on track: idiom to be doing the right thing in order to achieve a particular result

[2] blur: verb to become difficult to distinguish clearly

[3] inflate: verb to make something appear to be more important or impressive than it really is

[4] constricted: adjective limited or restricted

[5] erode: verb to gradually destroy something or make it weaker over a period of time

[6] overtly: adverb done in an open way and not secretly

[7] dictate: verb to tell someone what to do, especially in an annoying way

[8] agenda: noun a plan of things to be done, or problems to be addressed

[9] distort: verb to change the shape, appearance, or sound of something so that it is strange or not clear

[10] disenfranchised: adjective having had one’s rights taken away

[11] calibrate: verb to check the measurement on an instrument against a standard instrument, and adjust the first instrument to keep it accurate

[12] sphere of influence: phrase a field or area in which someone has power to change events and developments

[13] sparring partner: noun a person that you regularly have friendly arguments or discussions with

[14] malcontent: noun a person who is not satisfied with a situation and who complains about it, or causes trouble in order to change it

[15] hold a mirror up: phrase to think very deeply about

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