EXPO 2020: Can Dubai Fill The Skills Gap?
There are many things that leaders need to feel empowered to challenge:
• Values, Vision and Strategy. If these are not aligned and providing a firm foundation everything else is likely to suffer. What is the purpose of the organisation? Of the department? Of the function? Of the team? Are all of these in alignment? Do the espoused values of the organisation actually mean anything? Or are they mere words on advertising slogans that no one actually either believes or works to?
• The Model. Does the business model fit what you are doing? Is it fit for purpose? Does it deliver competitive advantage?
• The Organisation. Are the right people in the right places; are departments and functions properly aligned?
• The Culture. Has this evolved by default? Is it being actively directed – and more importantly, lived – from the top of the organisation? Is it in alignment with espoused values, both internally and externally? It is the leaders at all levels in the organisation who set the culture for their immediate environment?
•The People. Do you have the right people, in the right roles, in the right locations? And do you know where their replacements are going to come from? Are your people talented or are they serving time? Are they engaged, motivated and believe that they play a role and have a future?
• Yourself. Do the leaders constantly challenge themselves to improve as much as they may challenge others?
Coupled with the ability, willingness and empowerment to challenge is the willingness and ability to allow others, the “followers” to challenge the leader. If others cannot challenge you how can you be expected to have your challenges accepted?
Align
Coupled with the ability to challenge some of the areas mentioned above is the capability to actually either offer solutions or to do something about it. Often this means being able to bring things into alignment; are the values of the organisation in alignment with the values of the staff? Or even in alignment with the values of the prospective customers, clients or stakeholders? Is the organisational structure in alignment with the purpose of the business? Is the culture? And so on.
Empower
Fortunately as the concepts of the leader as “hero” or “great man” fade into the mists of time the notion of empowerment is starting to come to the fore. No longer can this be seen as just an extension of delegation, it is not just giving some of your tasks to a few people expecting them to be grateful for the crumbs of recognition that might fall from the leader’s table.
The ability to truly empower people is one of the most powerful tools at a leader’s disposal.
From a leadership perspective empowerment means that the leader is creating a culture within which their followers can freely make decisions, use their knowledge and experience and take responsibility for things whilst feeling trusted and supported as opposed to always having someone look over their shoulder to make sure that it is happening the way the leader would have done it.
This not only means that the leader must learn to trust their staff; they also have to understand their people, what are their motivations, their aspirations, their skills and development areas etc. Leaders will also, within a culture of true empowerment, have to release a fair degree of control as to how a task gets done, whilst still retaining the overall accountability for the results.
Coupled with this release of control and the creation of autonomy that may cross over old boundaries or hierarchies is the recognition that any and all information will need to be shared and old concepts of management need to be replaced as people and teams start to manage themselves.
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