Where do the best leaders come from?
There's a discussion on the Wall Street Journal asking whether techies make good leaders.
It got me thinking about which departments traditionally produce the leaders in a company. Finance people don't seem to get to the top job, with just 14% of Fortune 500 companies having a CEO that was previously their CFO.
Harvard Business Review published their list of the best performing CEOs earlier this year (full article available from our e-journals service).
Where do the best leaders come from?
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I'd be inclined to think HR would provide the best CEOs, but I'm not sure if that is actually the case.
A tiny tangent, but I blogged just now about new research revealing the ways people schmooze their way to the top of companies. The same research revealed that the very best schmoozers are from political, legal or sales backgrounds.
“Lawyers, politicians and salespeople routinely take part in flattery and opinion conformity to complete their jobs, similar to those operating in an upper-class social environment, ingratiatory behavior is a form of interpersonal communication that is acceptable and expected in both arenas.”
If we think about those people who have had most influence on us in our lives it is probably those interpersonal rapport traits that we value. So why would leadership in the workplace be any different. Personally I don't care where leaders come from, but do believe that effective leaders help create an environment where people can thrive.
This does not mean being weak but does mean ensuring people know where the organisation is trying to get and the manner ( hopefully ethical) in which they are trying to get there. The leader can then encourage contributions, thoughts and ideas about how individuals can help get there. A good leader will then try to find opportunities to enable people to help make their ideas happen, comfortable in the knowledge that together they are contributing towards achieving the activities required to achieve success.
I think a good leader is someone who has worked their way up through the ranks having experience in most areas of the business, knowing it inside-out.
I know someone who has worked for the same company 17 years. Starting at 16, working with different clients and now a successful senior manager. When issues have arisen, the way they have been handled should be held up as a standard to all on how to create a win-win senario.
just reading an article in the Belfast Telegraph from Valerie Reid Management Psychologist with Forde May Consulting. Its is entitled Leadership is not management, it is about how you inspire your people towards your vision. I like the analogy she has, if Management is the hardware then leadership is the software.
Interesting article here from Sloan suggesting that it's hard for leaders to come from the tech department as well.
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/executive-adviser/articles/2010/3/5238/do-techies-make-good-leaders/
Adi, your correct, it is interesting. I know some pretty good managers who belong to the tech side. The line from Sloan in their artical
"To fix this, tech companies need to create a corporate culture in which leadership is rewarded and respected as much as technical expertise".
This is what I have seen in one company hence some pretty good managers, and would tend to support what Sloan says.
It's interesting that the article mentions peer to peer mentoring/coaching. I wonder where the good coaches/mentors would come from if few existed to start with. Maybe there is an opportunity for cross-industry communities such as this one to provide such informal mentoring.