I’m a compulsive browser around professional networks such as Linkedin and I keep coming across questions that have me baffled. Most of them begin, “What is the one key skill…. ?”  or “What is the single most important attribute….?”.  Many of these are related to leaders or leadership and I find it pretty odd to think that something as complex as leadership can be broken down into such simplistic models. I get the same reaction when clients ask me, “Have you got a practical leadership activity we can do in 30 minutes. We want to illustrate leadership in action and give the participants some feedback on their leadership style.”   Well, maybe you can – but I’m sure I can’t!

All the learning that I’ve done about Leadership in the last 20 years has convinced me that it is a multi-faceted activity that is most needed in situations that are ambiguous, uncertain and complex.  Management is process-driven, systematic and focused on control. Leadership isn’t. Management is about controlling risk. Leadership is about seeing new possibilities, stimulating innovation, creating visions, enthusiasm and buy-in: even though there may be risk attached.

In creating leadership learning experiences for our clients, we need a number of things in place. We need time: time for a leadership strategy to be identified, developed and applied. We need multiple challenges, making different types of demands. We need pressure for change: internally and externally driven. We need uncertainty – an element of confusion and lack of clarity that has to be grabbed hold of, wrestled with and clarified. In offering leadership programmes we want participants to focus on key interactions and transactions: summarised for me in 4 key leadership ‘purposes’…strategic evaluation, creating conviction, developing understanding of integrated and applied solutions and empowering others to deliver in sustainable ways.

So – that’s why I can’t do it in 30 minutes, I’m afraid – or give you a single most important leadership skill!

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