Mission Mastery: Pillar 3—Leadership

Abstract

Leadership development needs to align two tectonic plates that are inherently prone to shift out of kilter. The two plates in question are the job and the person: accountability and capability. When they are aligned and in sync personal growth can occur. The problem is, if this relationship is not understood, they are apt to rub up against each other leading to disruptive outcomes for both the person and the organization. The accountability plate can be stabilised. But capability is inherently unstable because it is the more likely to grow and change over time. The fundamental challenge of leadership development is matching the moving capability of an individual to the appropriate accountability plate at a point in time. It is vital therefore to have a valid and reliable way of assessing both plates simultaneously. But if both are in flux individual development is akin to a game of roulette, reduced to guesswork. This chapter will show that the military seem to have the better grip on this challenge. Their battle echelons are stable and their approach to matching personal capacity and accountability is road tested and reliable. In many civilian organizations both plates continue to move and are rarely dynamically synchronised. Generally a lot of effort (and money) goes into building capability but not into building an appropriate organization design. The bonzai oak tree does not grow to its full height because its roots are restricted by the tiny box in which it is placed. Similarly, hierarchy heavy organizations produce stunted bonzai managers. “A bonsai manager is one whose growth has not run its course, as he has not been able to draw sustenance from his natural environment. As a result bonsai managers are not able to work at the top of their potential” Elsewhere in his excellent book Gopalakrishnan defines the stunted manager as one who is “Operating and working at a level which is well below his potential.”

Instead of assuming that leaders are mostly born not made – an assumption Ron Heifetz claims ‘fosters both self-delusion and irresponsibility’ – I start with the assertion that executive leaders are both born and made, but mostly made, based on a significant amount of research showing that executives do learn, grow and change over time.

Morgan McCall

McCall M W Jnr (1998). High Fliers: Developing the next generation of leaders. P4