“The fundamental responsibility of authentic strategic leadership is to provide meaning and purpose for the activities of all people within the organisation through effective and ethical strategic visioning.”
This preface to a management seminar invitation certainly attracted my attention, particularly after the McKinsey report highlighting management’s ineffectiveness at dealing with the ‘war on talent’ that prompted my last blog. I was particularly struck by the implicit underscoring of the sidelining of HR and the categoric placing of responsibility for addressing their concerns in management’s own court.
Of course management is ultimately responsible for the direction and the priorities in any organisation, but it seems a shame that the apparent consensus seems to be that there is no role for the people who should be pre-eminent in this capacity.
But there is another significant point in the statement: the reference to leadership rather than management. The fact is, in 21st Century business, management is increasingly an automated process: delivered by systems and the Management Information and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) these deliver. This inevitably tends to make relationships more impersonal and diminishes the human element, paradoxically at precisely the time when it is people who provide businesses with their competitive edge, and thus when teamwork and organisational alignment is paramount.
As a result leadership is essential and organisations require those ‘at the top’ (i.e. those ultimately accountable for the organisational performance) to be capable of building and sustaining an effective team. This covers the whole spectrum of shaping the values, culture, communication and human interaction within the organisation, and, I believe, is what is fundamentally meant by providing “meaning and purpose for the activities of all people within the organisation through effective and ethical strategic visioning.”
For many this is new territory. The lack of confidence in HR is therefore ironic, as they should be best placed to guide. Unfortunately both parties need to break the “habits of mind” I referred to last time in order to work better together. My paper, “Lighting the Fuse”, (available as a free download from my website,) is intended to help, but does not cover the subject of talent management and its specific issues.
One of the main effects of the ‘talent war’ has been an increasing tendency to rely on contractors or consultants to fill gaps in the organisation. This undoubtedly meets short-term needs but can have severe side-effects that are seldom if ever considered: creating a “body-shopping” economy where contractors move to the highest bidder and offer little or no long-term commitment to the business. While this can be bad in itself, the effect on regular employees is perhaps even worse, for it:
• Creates a two-tier structure that undermines all efforts to build teamwork, continuity and alignment;
• Destroys morale and motivation; eroding the very things that leaders should be trying to build.
It is impossible under such conditions to build an environment in which happy people are engaged in their work and contributing all they are capable of to sustained competitiveness. Thus the challenge is definitely on for leaders who can create meaning and purpose.