Leadership and Concensus

There is a school of thought that tends to relate consensus with leadership. While you could define this as a completely democratic way of utilizing leadership, it typically increases bureaucratic issues and the time it takes to make decisions. This is especially true given that any one individual doesn't assume the responsibility for making a decision.

In my opinion a more effective approach is to utilize group discussions to uncover concerns, ideas, or opportunities for improvements prior to the final development of an initiative or making a decision. This way you can include ideas from your team when and where it makes the most sense in order to gain higher levels of buy-in. The rest of the process is in the leader's ability to effectively lead his or her team to the right conclusion by asking a series of leading questions. This way the group can come to their own conclusions via the path that is carved out by the leader. If done effectively your people will ultimately end up at the right destination.

While democratic leadership models have flaws, so do those that are autocratic in nature. I personally believe the right model is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. I like to define our leadership culture at The Employment Guide and www.EmploymentGuide.com as "controlled autonomy." While this is an oxymoron, this terminology does a good job in defining the way we give our leaders definable parameters by which to make local decisions within the breadth of their authority. Anything that falls outside of this scope will ultimately need senior manager approval. This provides balance while keeping our organization nimble and flexible as to better deal with current and emerging competitive threats. You can use our leadership style at all levels in order to better improve performance while remaining engaged in your business.

Consensus can also work against a leader if they allow themselves to be lead more by their team than leading. If a manager becomes to dependent on their team to direct the business the leader then becomes more of a facilitator verses a true leader. Once a leader is removed from the navigation and ownership of the business they are likely to fail. The line between leading and being lead can occasionally become fine in nature. My advice is when you, as the leader feel that these lines are about to cross be sure to quickly review your objectives and the need to make decisions based on the needs of the business verses what is best for the individual. The most effective leaders have a way of creating the perception that both of these objectives are parallel and intertwined into an organizations culture.

How would you define your leadership style?

Manage Your Vision

I like to look at our business in terms of cycles. I categorize our business cycles into initiatives, sales, product and industry cycles. New initiatives influence new product cycles, which are completed prior to the beginning of a new sales cycle. The introduction of a new product to a customer base through the sales process can lead to industry shifts or in this context, "cycles." It is the leader's responsibility to cast a vision for the future and build their organizational infrastructure to be prepared for the future while simultaneously executing in the current sales cycle or business environment. Proper development and execution of initiative and product cycles affords a leader to move his or her organization from one sales cycle to the next seamlessly. The leader is also responsible for timing this transition so it occurs as soon as there is a declining return on the investment of time in the current sales environment.

With regards to our businesses, The Employment Guide and http://www.employmentguide.com/ ,this is best demonstrated through the introduction of new and exciting ancillary events, initiatives or electronic media products. People in our industry love to have a new and compelling story to tell. What is it about your organization that is remarkable or will create excitement on the part of the key people in the businesses where you provide your products or services? Is it a new twist on a current product? Is it new technology? The creation of a new compelling story ushers in with it a new sales cycle and represents the graduation of a product cycle. Tied to this process comes the responsibility to once again engage in the initiative and product development cycles. Effective leaders can manage multiple initiatives, products and sales cycles concurrently. This is how effective leadership and the leader's vision continuously breathes life into a business and positions an organization to become an industry leader.

Can you identify each of the "cycle" components in how you are currently leading your organization? Initiative -> Product -> Sales -> Industry