Global leadership: values and beliefs was held on 23 and 24 September 2008

With a global financial crisis simmering in the background, this year’s conference kicked off not surprisingly with a reference to the current turmoil facing the world economy, and closer to home our banking institutions. Conference chair Nicholas Witchell said that strong effective leadership could never be more in need.

Professor John Adair, often seen as a founding father in terms of the development of our understanding of leadership as a skill, started this year’s conference. Listening to this widely regarded academic you soon realise the depth and breath of his understanding of leadership from so many perspectives, not least his recent visit to the Masai tribe and with the King of Ashanti in Ghana. John proposed that we build a global body of knowledge regarding leadership and, in order to do that we need to draw on three great traditions from around the world; western, eastern and tribal traditions, by doing this people can then transcend their limitations.  

Ending on a quote by John Buchen of the University of St Andrews, who said; “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people but to draw it out because the greatness is there already,” John left the audience with as many questions as answers.

Case studies are always a central part of the conference and the two on the first day could not have been more different.  In a heartfelt and often emotionally honest presentation, Christine Steadman of the Royal National College for the Blind told of her passion and at times struggle to move the college on into the next phase of its development. Basically having to start from scratch and strip back to exactly what the college stood for and more importantly where it wanted to go, she outlined their plans for the future, moving from a provincial establishment to a global organisation, including expansion of their existing site, 10 days per year of CPD for each member of staff and the development and support of a new dynamic senior management team.

Fenella Tyler, Chairman of the National Association of Cider Makers, was a woman on a mission and asked the audience for help in taking her part of the way there! Having to lobby government only a week after her presentation, Fenella outlined her task of trying to persuade government ministers that a low duty on cider would have wide reaching effects and their support of the cider industry in this way was invaluable.  She may have persuaded the audience at The Leadership Trust, the government you feel may well be a different matter!

Dr Christopher Avery’s presentation centred around his research into successful teams and the conclusion that responsibility is the key to building that success. In learning to act responsibly and not just be accountable, Christopher took the audience through an impassioned and energetic step process, from blame to responsibility, but he warned that it can only be self-implied.

The second day dawned at The Leadership Trust and so too has a new generation of workers and leaders; Generation Y (“Gen Y”). Simon Walker of the “Talentsmoothie” engaged the audience before he had even started presenting by walking around and personally introducing himself. Simon explained that our generational attitudes are determined by our age, conditions we grew up in and experiences we have had. To illustrate this point Simon showed short clips of iconic events, music and social developments from each of the past three generations. Many prejudices he explained are aimed at each generation often creating tension and misunderstanding. Opening the floor to questions from Gen-Y’ers, Gen-X’ers and baby boomers certainly created a lively debate; illustrating his point!

The last case study of the conference centred around the development and implementation of an international development programme for high potentials at Control Techniques. Having explained the development of the programme and the reasoning behind it, George Earley Director of Training and Development, handed over to Enrique Viseras one of the first participants of this programme. Witty, engaging and heartfelt, Enrique drew the audience in when he explained his journey through the programme and how it had developed him as a person.

Summing up two days of diverse presentations, Paul K Winter, Chief Executive of The Leadership Trust, explained this as the start of a journey. It is certainly one for The Leadership Trust; The Trust’s Centre for Applied Leadership Research is committed to investigating the subject of worldly leadership and what it means for the future. Looking to that future Paul suggested to the audience that we would need leaders who can enable people to dream; inspirational leadership. Now that’s the challenge!

Leadership: The challenges we face was held on 18 and 19 September 2007.

Dr Patrick Dixon kicked off the conference with startling statistics revealing today’s employees are generally unsatisfied with their jobs, looking for a higher purpose at work and see no meaningful purpose in their work or organisation. The main challenge of the future, Patrick said, was the next generation of business leaders who have different motivations towards work. To provide a meaningful purpose for people in your organisation was key, as people with purpose, Patrick explained, are unstoppable. 

Giving the public what they want is shaping the NHS and our police forces, was the message from Jonathan Parry and Meredyyd Hughes, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police. In a consumer-led society, public sector organisations are realising the value and importance of putting users at the centre of operations and treating them as customers. To tackle this issue Meredydd believes there will be a new kind of leader within the police force, one who will need to fill a variety of roles without necessarily having come through the ranks.

In the future, more than ever, leaders need to connect with the community, both to identify their needs as in the case of the public sector and to create a sense of purpose as human beings. Debra Allcock-Tyler, Chief Executive, Directory of Social Change encouraged us to think about the need for change in our societies and that as leaders we have a responsibility to both lead and improve our communities. 

Sara Parkin, Co-Founder of Forum for the Future spoke about how they have seen the value of working with over 150 partners whose influence is used to build capacity of people and organisations to overcome the many barriers to more sustainable practice.

Professor Adrian Furnham’s presentation warned the audience of the dangers of forecasting and gazing too much into the future.  Whilst we are looking at new ways of communicating as leaders, working with dispersed teams, dealing with diversity and global competition, Adrian highlighted the other side of innovation and the often enslaving nature of progress such as the loss of certain trades and skills.

A new generation of leaders are worried about the future and the impact of unsustainable development.  As one of the founders of Forum for the Future, Sara Parkin helped establish the Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development which sets out to create a group of sustainability literate leaders that influence others, especially in education and training. This new generation will no doubt be putting sustainability and ethical practice at the top of their agenda when it comes to leading people and organisations and selecting their employers and employees.

The strongest argument was the power of people; by developing our teams, organisations and communities’ great things could be achieved. Debra Allcock-Tyler said, “Leadership means believing in something bigger than yourself, thinking of others, and contributing something important.” Leaders have a responsibility to themselves and others to act with integrity and conviction.

Nowhere more so are people at the heart of an organisation than at W L Gore. John Housego, Manufacturing Leader at W L Gore, gave a presentation entitled, “Individuals Making a Difference.” In an organisation where its leaders are elected from within the team, encouragement and motivation are the key to success. Work is led by individuals who make a commitment to themselves and others to deliver on what they promise.  Awarded the Sunday Times best company to work consistently since 2004 is testament to their achievements with this approach.

From different speakers came a diverse range of issues; it was a melting pot of ideas. One factor however, rose above the rest; it’s about people. In order to grow as leaders, as organisations and a society the key to success is people. Tapping in to who they are, what they feel and how they work will lead us into an exciting and vibrant future.