Are YOU leadership material?
13 Apr 04

More words have been written on the subject of leadership than most other aspects of business, but a glance at the business media on any day reveals that little has been learned. Business failures abound, the doors continue to revolve on the corporate top floors, and the ethics and values of business seem to be in terminal decline. So where do we look to find good leaders today? Certainly not in the political arena, where untruths are regarded as best practice and spins are intentional. Religious leaders too either seem unable to keep the fanatics in check, or are themselves the fanatics. The public sector perhaps? Many would say, don't go there either, and I won't.

The truth is that there are sadly few role models of great leadership to be found in the traditional corridors of power. Those that we admire are usually mavericks such as Ricardo Semler, supported by a certain amount of hot air such as Branson or dead such as Ghandi. They are or were exceptional people before they were leaders so where did their leadership come from? Not from business schools or from academic tomes, but from inside themselves.

The authors of this book have struck a perfect balance between the necessary outer leadership skills, without which no one will follow, and inner leadership upon which all leadership really depends. How can one lead or manage others if one cannot lead or manage oneself? Leadership can be learned or evoked from within, but it cannot be taught from without. Trevor Waldock is an expert executive coach who knows how to provoke thought and insight and to challenge the reader to look deeply within.

The 18 well chosen challenges are addressed in a very logical sequence. Each one is explained clearly, supported by simple examples and then a series of provocative coaching questions are posed to the reader - often calling for a numerical self-assessment. And then ways forward are proposed. Since each challenge and the way forward is relatively self-contained, it is not necessary to read the book all the way through at a sitting. Rather it is one of those books that one can dip in and out of to select the issue of the day.  I suggest that many people who have not previously seen themselves to be leadership material, will after reading this book reconsider their roles, and raise their sights.

This book comes at a time when the old power hierarchy model is revealing all its flaws, and the information explosion is encouraging all of us to demand more say in our lives and our world. All of us can benefit from enhancing our leadership skills and welcoming more choice, as we recognise that no one but ourselves can lead us to the promised land.

The 18 Challenges of Leadership, by Trevor Waldock and Shenaz Kelly-Rawat, is published by Prentice Hall. For further information or to pre-order, click here.

The article above was written by Sir John Whitmore.

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