Good leadership is essential for organisational success. Becoming a good leader involves acquiring a skill. More precisely it involves acquiring the skill of dealing with people (your subordinates) in such a way that you manage to get the best out of them. Good leadership is thus a people skill. We can get a better sense of the skill involved in good leadership by looking at the real life example of Joann Auret.
The Story of Joann and Angelique:
In conversation Joann recounted an experience she had with her P.A. Angelique Nel. The organisation in which both Joann and Angelique are employed is currently undergoing a restructuring process which is a process that is opening up new opportunities within the organisation. Being aware of this restructuring Angelique decided to put her name in for a managerial position that had opened up in a new department.
Angelique approached Joann about her desire to apply for the new position. Joann confessed that she was inwardly saddened and a bit surprised by Angelique’s desire to apply for the new position. Joann and Angelique have a good relationship and Angelique is a valued and highly capable member of the team.
To her credit however Joann side-lined her disappointment and put Angelique’s interests first by urging Angelique to apply for the new position. As we will see, her decision in this instance is significant and is indicative of her leadership skill. What Joann has illustrated here is a benevolent intent which is the essential element in leadership skill.
In any case, Joann assured Angelique that applying for the position was the best choice for her and so Angelique applied for the position. Surprisingly however, once she submitted her application Angelique suffered substantial “application remorse”. As Angelique herself told me, when she first decided to apply for the new position her decision was a completely rational decision based on the opportunity for growth it represented. Once she had applied however the emotional aspects of the decision starting flooding in and she decided that she wanted to withdraw her application.
There were a number of reasons for Angelique’s application remorse. In the first instance she felt guilty for leaving Joann and the rest of the team. She felt needed in the team and felt that her presence was valued and hence she felt guilty that she was applying to leave the team.
In the second instance she felt fear. She felt very well looked after in the team she was working with and by Joann personally and was not sure if she would be similarly looked after in her new position.
There was also, most strongly of all, regret that she might be leaving Joann and the team. Above everything Angelique was happy where she was. It was a position in which she was cared for and one which was conducive to her development as a person.
When asked about what she thought inspired these negative feelings within her Angelique explained that it was in large part due to her relationship with Joann. Angelique explained that she gained immense benefit from having Joann as her manager.
Firstly, Joann is the type of leader who one can always depend on. She is very approachable, even with personal matters, and gives sound advice on these matters.
Beyond these caring aspects, Angelique feels that Joann has taught her a lot and is teaching her everyday. This is essential. People have a deep desire to grow and to experience a sense of progress in their lives. Angelique explicitly said that she is most thankful to Joann for how much Joann as taught her, as just one example Angelique told me that Joan taught her how to keep good relations with people in the business world. In any case, Angelique came to realise that she did not need to get the new position in order to grow but felt confident that she would continue to grow in her current position.
The Leadership Essentials:
We see in all the reasons Angelique gave for the regret of leaving Joann what it truly means to be a good leader. The most salient reason for Angelique’s regret that came out for me when hearing Angelique share her experience was the leadership qualities of Joann. From what Angelique said we can draw out two distinct elements that are essential for leadership skill. The first is CARE and the second is GROWTH.
Care:
We firstly see in Joann’s approachability and willingness to help with personal matters a genuine concern. More precisely we see that Joann genuinely cares about Angelique and her well being. The word genuinely is very significant. It illustrates to us that what is inside is the same as what is outside, Joann does not just act like she cares, she actually cares. This is to say she has a benevolent intent, i.e. when she engages with Angelique she is actually concerned for Angelique’s well being, she is not just pretending to be concerned.
The ability to care is an immense skill and without it one cannot be a good leader. The good leader is like a good parent; everything they do must be sincerely done in the interest of the subordinate, only then is their leadership legitimate. A leader that is not benevolently disposed towards his/her subordinates is not a leader.
Growth:
Beyond the genuine care that is immediately apparent, we also see clearly from Angelique’s account that Joann fosters Angelique’s development. Angelique herself said that Joann has taught her so much and will continue to help her grow if she remains with her.
This is the second essential element of good leadership that was illustrated by Joann. A good leader must have the ability to help their people become better, learn new skills and abilities, and generally grow as a person. The care of the leader is pointless if that care does not translate into an improvement in the subordinate.
So we can see clearly from the story of Joann and Angelique what the skill of good leadership involves. It is a “people skill”. To be more precise however it is the skill of Care and Growth. The good leader firstly cares for her people and secondly is able to direct that care so as to achieve growth and development for her people.
It is significant to see how Joann prioritized Angelique’s development. When Angelique wanted to withdraw her application Joann insisted that she did not, saying that she could never stand in the way of Angelique’s development. Regardless of her disappointment with the thought of losing Angelique she refused to compromise Angelique’s development. It is in actions like this that a leader’s benevolent intent is manifested. We see clearly in this action that Joann genuinely cared for Angelique and also deliberately translated that care into actions that were good for Angelique’s growth and development as a person.
A leader that has the skill of Care and Growth gets the best out of her/his people because she helps her people become better but also, and crucially, fosters a deep sense of commitment in her people. This deep sense of commitment makes people go the extra mile and in so doing boosts their performance which is good for themselves, the leader and for the organisation.
We see this commitment clearly in Angelique’s remorse and regret. She wanted to turn down a massive opportunity largely because of her commitment to Joann. People do not commit to going the extra mile for companies or for ideas. People commit to going the extra mile for people so it is up to the leader to elicit this commitment. This commitment is only elicited by the leader who cares for and grows her/his subordinate.