Leadership Wisdom I am learning in Executive Coaching

I came to the conclusion many years ago that leadership is a learned skill yet only in the last couple of years have I realised that many highly academically qualified and/or technically competent individuals are thrown into the deep end of leadership by being appointed to leadership positions with little to no leadership skills capability. One such deep end is the board, where Directors are charged with ensuring the company's prosperity. Having served in close to 15 Boards in the last 20 years I have, disappointedly, seen this pattern repeated again and again yet Directors are the ones who collectively direct (and lead) the company's affairs whilst meeting the appropriate interests of its shareholders and stakeholders, a role which exposes them to certain liabilities in their capacity as directors and which they can be held personally liable for breach of their fiduciary duties.

“Leadership is a process where an organised group is influenced towards reaching its goal”.

Because Leadership is formed by its context, and because Leadership happens between people while ultimately aiming to create value, it then follows that leadership is about influence. Infact Huges, Ginnet, Curpy in their 1999 publication stated “Leadership is a process where an organised group is influenced towards reaching its goal”. It therefore follows that because leadership is about influence then per se, leadership is about managing relationships so that one can influence people. Nowhere is the management of relationships key than in a Kenyan board room with its people dynamics steeped in tribal and gender diversity; varied, and at times competing, interests (some holy, others unholy!) all topped by stewarding a management for solid performance of results (which includes good governance) in a low governance, highly challenging, unpredictable environment.

Effective relationship management requires prudent, courageous, self-aware individuals with both emotional and social intelligence well trained in interpersonal, conflict management, decision-making, political skills. Nowhere are these leadership abilities (or competencies) more required to be in play than in the board room particularly those unfortunate to be a cash rich (or monopolistic) government owned companies (read-parastatal) where control of public resources is a political power game that often determine the fate of leaders and therefore fate of a nation.

Increasingly, many board directors are concerned with developing these competencies in order to become more effective directors and coaches like myself, play a key role in supporting such directors develop, practice and excel in these sought-out leadership competencies. This is more so in the corporate sector where a humancentric distributed leadership style, in part due to the predominant millennial workforce, is increasingly called for versus the old authoritarian style. I enjoy coaching people maximise their potential and gain insights about themselves and get a thrill when someone has that 'light-bulb' moment when they realise that transitioning to a bigger, better or more challenging role, or their attaining better relationships or simply meeting their goal is predominantly 'their call'. That's why I am #CoachInAction.