There’s a Leadership Problem

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Communications Management   Leadership   Strategy  

Leadership is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot, and I’m as guilty as anyone else. But the word doesn’t always mean the same thing. Organizational leadership implies a position, a job title. These leadership positions include the C-suite, VP levels and perhaps some other levels. These individuals are collectively viewed as the decision makers, the drivers of the organization’s direction and strategies. They are the leaders, and obviously they exist in every organization.

The perception of many leaders within their organizations, and sometimes by external stakeholders, is not always positive. Some are viewed as lacking in ability, out of touch with what’s happening in their areas of accountability, and so on. That may not always be a fair assessment, but it’s based on the way that they interact with the people who work in their part of the organization, or in how they deal with external stakeholder or interest groups. Those internal and external communities don’t perceive the leadership functions to be demonstrating leadership skills.

The issue is there aren’t enough real leaders in leadership positions, and that’s a serious problem.

Real leadership

Think about the people that you have worked with who you respected as strong leaders. Or think of the famous people in history who are seen as having exceptional leadership capabilities. They aren’t always …

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