Embrace Hard Truths to Develop Effective Leaders Good leadership goes beyond popular qualities such as being inspirational, or aspirational traits such as modesty. Instead, effective leadership is about being able to use the resources at hand, in an appropriate way, to create lasting change By Jeffrey Pfeffer & Dr. M Muneer among other virtues. We say “apparently” because leaders are often quite successful at creating public personas that differ significantly from the reality of actually working with them. As an expert on power leadership, Jeff ’s work has established how power and influence skills are essential to getting things done. Power is the organisation’s last dirty secret, but it is
also the secret to individual and organisational success. Telling inspiring fables doesn't develop either the knowledge or the skills that help people become more effective in getting things done – and there are examples galore, whether in politics, MNCs, SMEs, or less prominent sectors. The pervasive “feel-good" approach to leadership development may explain
July 2022 |
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uite often we hear corporate honchos saying they need a more “inspirational” presentation on leadership to motivate their senior management team. According to them, content based on the realities of organisational life and related social science research isn’t uplifting enough. Such views are common in the leadership development and training industry. Many leadership development programmes feature well-known speakers telling compelling life stories about overcoming various physical or economic challenges. There are also events that feature engaging speakers narrating examples of leaders who “apparently” are modest, authentic, taking care of others, telling the truth, and building trust,
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