Continuing our discussion of four keys to effective leadership from a leader at the very top is the second key, that understanding people and relationships is far more important to leadership success than structures and processes;

In a notable study of power conducted by social psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram Raven in 1959, they theorised that power can be divided into five forms. While the Navy, and business for that matter, used to teach and use a very authoritative command and control leadership style which was based on legitimate power (I outrank you so you have to do what I say) and coercive power (or else you will suffer consequences), these days we have moved towards a more collaborative style of leadership.

Collaborative leadership requires a shift to using referent power (charm, or the ability to be looked up to as a role model), expert power (ability to administer to another information, knowledge or expertise) and informational power (organizing, utilising and sharing information) rather than just relying on legitimate and coercive power.  For aspiring leaders, the focus needs to be on building their referent, expert and informational power which in turn will deliver career advancement and the legitimate power they seek.

Another requirement for any leader is to understand the people in their organisation and the relationships that need to be maintained in order to be successful. So a leader needs to be more concerned with being (a great leader) rather than doing (office based work).  Great leaders bring together talented people and assemble them into teams that deliver outstanding results.

Understanding people can be made a lot easier through tools like Myers Briggs, DISC or PDP profiling which uncovers people’s behavioural styles and their communication preferences.  Successful leaders (and teams for that matter) take the time to learn how to communicate with each member of their team in a style that suits the person and elicits the desired response.

How does Rapport Leadership empower leaders?

For more than 30 years, Rapport Leadership has reinvented the way leadership is taught and empowered new leaders with the confidence, self-esteem, and focus necessary to improve their results and build high performance teams. Rapport’s intensive and on-site leadership training courses are experiential leadership classes designed to allow people to experience strong leadership, develop their inner leader and understand and practice their own unique leadership style giving them the resources, experience and confidence to go to the next level.

At Rapport we know that when we improve the person, the performance improves.  When we improve the performance, the family improves, the business improves and the community improves.

To request a complimentary leadership consultation or a leadership analysis of your organisation, contact Rapport on 1800 330 027.

 

Recommended Posts