In this Blog Professor Vlatka Hlupic
addresses the question “What is Emergent
Leadership?”
There is a dramatic need for a new mindset
and leadership skills. Conventional
leadership approaches have been based on the
Newtonian machine model that focuses on
hierarchical linearity, a culture based on
rules, command and control and formal
relationships. Whilst this approach might
work well in predictable and stable
environments, there is ample research
evidence that in dynamic and complex
business environments this traditional
approach inhibits creativity and innovation
and decreases motivation and productivity.
In traditionally managed organizations,
structures distribute power and processes
distribute tasks. Both are about creating
stability, repeatability and predictability
- in an unstable, chaotic world, which
demands innovation. So we ask people to
innovate in a system that is designed to
produce the reverse, and then complain when
they don’t deliver! Modern organizations
should be managed and led as sailing boats -
a general direction is to be determined, but
the journey towards the destination should
be flexible depending on the environmental
conditions. Adaptability and resilience are
key for the success of modern businesses,
and this cannot be achieved using
traditional leadership styles.
Paradoxically, modern business environments
fueled by interconnectivity and the
technological revolution are predominantly
comprised of knowledge workers whose
creativity and innovation are the main
driving force for value creation. These
workers are being intrinsically motivated,
value expertise rather than hierarchy and
are highly mobile. Consequently, they are
likely to ignore hierarchical instructions
and leave if dissatisfied or do not feel
sufficiently valued.
So how can these workers be led to unleash
their creativity and potential for
innovation? They can only be led using
emergent leadership approaches based on the
main premise that leaders can gain more
power, influence and profit by “letting go”.
By eschewing formal power, relaxing control
and allowing decisions to be made on the
basis of knowledge, skills and experience
rather than on the formal position in an
organizational hierarchy, leaders can enable
a dramatic shift in performance. For
example, the application of emergent
leadership principles in a German IT
consulting company has resulted in a 1700%
increase in profit and a 23% increase
in the number of employees in the first
year, and a further 240% increase in the
profit and a 20% increase in the number of
employees in the second year despite an
economy in a recession. Our article on this
study has been published in
December 2009
Harvard
Business Review.
So what is
Emergent Leadership?
Emergent leadership is defined as a new
leadership approach that brings more
innovation and profit through distribution
of formal power and decision making,
interaction through informal networks and
experimentation and learning. The main
underlying concepts are: the leadership is
about facilitating and enabling rather than
directing and controlling. More innovation,
better performance and productivity achieved
through learning by doing rather than by
formal instruction; by experimenting and
allowing good attempts (and tolerating
mistakes) instead of target setting,
planning and controlling. This new approach
is also about creating new knowledge by
sharing information across functional
boundaries and interacting across networks.
Last but not least, trusting that people
will do the right things instead of
controlling their behavior by imposing
decisions on them unleashes their full
potential leading to more profits.
When an emergent leadership culture is
implemented,
employees are intrinsically motivated to
perform well, a strong team culture is
developed, and levels of stress and
absenteeism are reduced.
What does this mean to leaders? By
giving away formal power, leaders will get
more power back, as more will be achieved
with less effort. This will make the
leader’s life easier with less stress and
burnout. Most importantly, leaders will
develop more motivated, innovative, and
energized employees.
Emergent leadership is a paradigm breaking
approach to leading organizations. It
produces profound results and in a world
changing at a frantic pace and is the main
ingredient for organizational success.
To explore emerging leadership paradigms and
their practical implementation
in more detail
please contact us – and NO we won’t
follow up with you afterwards unless agreed
with you!
