Leadership – does it matter?

There’s a lot of talk about leadership, and it’s a core part of the work we do with our clients. So, it’s worth asking, does leadership really matter, and what difference does good leadership make compared with poor leadership?

We ask these questions in the leadership research project we’re currently undertaking in the finance and professional services sectors.

One of the clear messages we’re receiving is the impact leadership has on our emotions. A significant proportion of people participating in the research indicate that good leadership makes them feel motivated and valued. Many leaders believe that this helps enhance performance in the workplace:

“Being empowered & provided with the headroom to make mistakes & learn from them without being castigated is hugely beneficial to my development and that of the business”

“It makes me feel valued, which is hugely motivating”

In contrast, poor leadership can undermine people’s confidence and motivation:

“It creates a sense of feeling alone which leads to disengagement”

“Poor leadership holds the team back and makes staff unhappy and less productive”

It’s perhaps not surprising that a number of people have noted that their reason for leaving an organisation has been down to the leadership behaviours of their manager.

Our research is on-going, but the results to date clearly indicate that leadership does matter both to the individual and the organisation.

The project delves deeper into the impact of leadership on those in the workplace, the characteristics of good leadership and also investigates the differing perspective/believes of leaders versus those they influence. The project is led by Jane Welsh, Thomas Chalmers and Russell Borland. All participants are given the option to receive research findings from the programme and an invitation to future seminars. All contributions are anonymised. If you wish to take part, please click here: Leadership Research

Author: Russell Borland