Top-Down Leadership Doesn't Always Work in Today's Complex World
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
by Cameron McGaughy,
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Date
There's no single definition of leadership. Whether they opt to emulate Sun Tzu or Steve Jobs, project professionals should assess their teams and organizations to carve out their own leadership strategies, plenary speaker Andy Craggs told project professionals at the PMI
® Global Congress 2012 -- EMEA in Marseille, France.
Mr. Craggs, a global business consultant at The Learning Partnership, dubbed today's business world as
VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
As a result, the top-down, individual-driven leadership style prevalent 10 years ago is no longer as effective. Instead, leadership must happen at four levels: society, organization, group and individual.
That means leaders must cross boundaries to encourage interdependence, collaboration and innovation among three types of people:
- Conservers tend to be reliable, promoting the organization's underlying system and values while striving for constant improvement.
- Pragmatists build cooperation and gather input from as many sources as possible to seek common ground.
- Originators have long-range vision and seek to lead via new approaches and systems.
Mr. Craggs emphasized to the attendees that they must tailor their message to their audience, as each of the three groups will react differently.
Drawing on his time working with Disney and Apple, Mr. Craggs demonstrated how different leadership styles can be effective in the proper context.
At Disney, the bulk of activity takes place in the operations sector, with the focus on protecting intellectual property and the brand. In the modern VUCA world, though, Disney's top-down leadership doesn't always work. Although the company did enjoy a record box office debut for its movie The Avengers, it has struggled to compete in the application and video game development fields.
Apple takes the opposite approach. The organization's leadership, being more agile and connected across the organization, is more responsive to market changes -- which has allowed it to thrive.
Mr. Cragg concluded his presentation by identifying three types of organizational leadership cultures:
- Dependent: A top-down, hierarchical structure that can be effective in very large, siloed organizations, like Disney
- Independent: Characteristic of organizations with specialized but not necessarily connected functions, such as Apple
- Interdependent: Typically function with agile, interconnected networks within the organization, a style common at companies like Twitter
By knowing the characteristics of themselves, those around them and their organizations, project professionals can tailor their leadership approach to maximize their chances of success.
Posted
by
cyndee miller
on: May 09, 2012 05:13 AM |
Permalink
Comments (7)
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Karthik Ramamurthy
Author, Say YES to Project Success| Founder KeyResultz
Chennai, Tamilnadu, Tamilnadu, India
Folks: Great piece, on the importance of developing one's own individual leadership style rather than blindly aping great leaders.
As a graduate of PMI's Leadership Institute Master Class (LIMC) and keen follower of Leadership myself, I have read a lot on the topic.
VUCA is a very interesting concept. "Servant Leadership" is indeed very important rather than being dictatorial.
Do keep contributing to enrich our community here!
Bob Patrino
Consultant/Senior Technical Project Manager| Tamazari
Newport, KY, United States
At least in projects, top down leadership 'doesn't' work. In my experience. Leadership needs to get to the where the work is being done. Successful outcomes are what we ultimately want to drive and the only place to get those results is working where the work gets done. Leading from the top down won't get us the level of involvement we need to drive excellence.
Stéphane Parent
Self Employed / Semi-retired| Leader Maker
Prince Edward Island, Canada
I'm not sure I have as pessimistic a view of the business world as Mr. Craggs. I do appreciate, however, is insight.
At the end of the day, leadership is always situational. Not just at the organization level but all the way down to the individual contributors.
Mansoor Mustafa
Senior PM| Government Department
Rawalpindi Punjab, Pakistan
Thanks for sharing great article
Alok Priyadarshi
Project Manager| Tata Consulting Engineers Limited
Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India
Wonderful perspective.
Thanks for sharing!!
Luis Branco
CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª
Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Will this kind of approach help us to lead the VUCA world?
Thanks for sharing
Linda Mullally
Project Manager, Consultant| Strategic Technical Consultant, Project Manager, Learning Facilitator
Ma, United States
Top down leadership often does not work - in fact, in my experience, it is usually the leading cause of organizational problems, particularly with toxic cultures. I hear from others time and time again that how a company operates and treats its customers reflects the attitudes, behaviors and leadership styles of leadership. Similar to the 'trickle-down' effect
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