It is based on the model proposed by David Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee in their book “The New Leaders: transforming the Art of Leadership” with special mention of the leader coach, who is the leader who truly develops the talent of his or her team in companies. It is necessary to clarify the value of leadership today in business, in relation to its usefulness, given the great diffusion, not always clear, that exists on the subject. On the one hand, certain competencies are identified as necessary to exercise leadership, and on the other, different leadership styles. Thus we find the political capacity of a leader and the different ways of exercising political leadership according to the parties existing in a place. These are different aspects
1. LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE
It is the ability to lead a team towards organisational ability to lead a team towards and objectives. It involves the desire to guide others. Leaders create a climate of energy and commitment, they communicate the vision of the company, whether from their formal or informal position of authority. Consequently, it involves a sustainable effort on the part of the leader, directed towards an end. It is associated with supporting and developing people, generating a suitable ecosystem, and communicating. Being a leader is not being a manager, nor is it being charismatic, as is often mistaken. Often in organisations, managers spend their days at their desktops without paying attention to the growth of their team, without creating the right climate, without directing and organising in order to achieve goals.
2. LEADERSHIP STYLES
Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee defined different ways of leading people, with their challenges and difficulties. This is what leadership styles are all about, charismatic leadership being just one of the possible ones. But in addition, these styles must be adapted to the context in which the leader finds himself (culture, type of company, team) and according to my opinion, it will also depend on the nature or personality of the leader, which I will mention later on, This way of adapting the leader can be analysed in the Situational Leadership model proposed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, which highlights the adaptation according to the maturity of the team.
In the model proposed by Daniel Goleman, there are 6 leadership styles:
The authoritarian leader
This style destroys the motivation of the team in a short time. People feel obliged to respond by imposition but not because they are necessarily committed. It is based on the mere fact of trying to lead from formal power, because you are the boss, not because you are granted to be a leader. It could be used in critical and specific situations. For example, during a conflict, a leader takes responsibility for making a decision. “Do as I say”.
The democratic leader
Another possible leadership style. The leader leaves the ability to decide to his team, delegates and seeks consensus through participation. He holds constant meetings with the members. “What do you think? It has the advantage of involving the team in consensus building and the disadvantage of being slow in decision making.
The affiliative leader
Those leaders who have an extraordinary relationship with others but often forget about results. They create good relationships and harmony by avoiding confrontation. “People come first” but they do not work to achieve results, which is something different and time-consuming.
The leader of reference
Here we find the style of leading by example. The leader sets high standards of performance and expects the same attitude from the team. It is a moral prototype. The leader is placed in an ideal position, of what should or should not be done. However, this style seems to be more self-directed and not focused on the real development of the talents of others, nor on creating the right climate and motivation.
The visionary leader
He or she succeeds through an inspirational style and commitment to mobilise others towards the vision. The visionary leader is that kind of person who moves the masses, sets goals but gives freedom on how to achieve them. “Come with me. It rarely really takes others into account in a genuine way and should be aligned with the company’s objectives and less so with its own.
The leader coach
This style of leadership, on the other hand, focuses on developing the people in the team, through feed-forward and support, rather than focusing on the tasks themselves. “Try this”. The following section explains a little more about this leadership style, which is so highly valued nowadays.
3. LEADERCOACH
Leadership coaching is a process that combines organisational development with the growth of team members. It is not only concerned with their education and technical training but also with their motivation, involvement and potential to get the best out of their team. It is about creating awareness and commitment in the team. It looks at the potential and not just at the performance of the individual. The leader-coach places the team in a learning zone and makes the team and individuals question their own way of working, getting people to improve themselves. It is one of the most effective styles of managing people, among other things because its main differentiation with respect to other styles is the ability to develop others, to enhance their capabilities and position ourselves at the next level of professional competence. Among the tools it uses are: communication, feedback and feed-forward, delegation, empowerment, performance evaluation, talent development and retention, career
4. HOW TO ENHANCE LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE?
Following Goleman, in today’s business context, developing leadership and talent has to do with at least 5 aspects of emotional intelligence that are grouped into intrapersonal and interpersonal components.
Component
intrapersonal
This would be the aspect related to the leader’s self-awareness and self-management.
- Self-awareness: is the ability to identify one’s own strengths and weaknesses, and to manage oneself in a sustained way by enhancing the former and minimising the negative impacts of the latter. It involves identifying one’s own emotions and knowing the reasons for them.
- Self-regulation: relates to self-awareness, but more specifically describes the ability to manage emotions appropriately.
- Motivation: the principle of motivation represents the will to achieve – enthusiasm, drive, ambition – regardless of obstacles. Motivated leaders are competitive – with themselves and their peers alike.
Interpersonal component
would be focused on relations and management with others.
- Empathy: is a central point in Goleman’s model, often misunderstood. It means intuitively identifying and understanding the motivations and needs of the team and acting accordingly, not trying to please everyone.
- Social skills: a leader’s ability to leverage relationships to promote his or her ideas, through sympathy, trust and respect.
The breakdown of the components of emotional intelligence into intra-person (oneself) andinter-person (in relation to others), putting the emphasis first on one’s own internal process of knowing oneself and regulating one’s own behaviours and emotions before pretending to lead others. Consequently, this requires a personal journey, balance and emotional maturity (not just being charismatic or a boss).
CONCLUSION
In short, in order to lead teams, we must first lead ourselves in a sustainable and responsible way. This requires prior work. There is a set of skills necessary to exercise leadership and possible styles or modes of leadership in relation to the context and the very nature of the leader Leadership is aimed at achieving results and within the styles, the leader-coach is the one who really develops the talent of teams.
Susana Lugo Ruiz
Director at ToEXECUTIVE
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Business consulting, leadership and talent
