The art of leadership has always evolved to better fit the ever changing business environment. There are many different leadership styles and techniques and they work to achieve different results depending on what the main focus is. In the military, strict discipline and clear methods are needed. Innovation and flexibility can lead to death and disaster. In the government, transparency and adherence to the rules and policies governed by law is focus, or it can lead to corruption.
In the business world where innovation and competitive advantage is key, it is quite different.
Business leaders in this increasingly complex and rapidly changing world, need to empower, provide the tools and establish a permissive culture encouraging disruptive innovation and collaboration towards common goals. Rather than being conductors of a giant orchestra, they need to become the inspiration of a jazz band allowing for improvisation and true collaboration. To achieve this, a holistic approach with a flexible structure, and guidelines rather than strict rules are needed. Continuous and adaptive change management and competence development is absolutely crucial.
In business, especially the ones with longer sales cycles, it is not very effective to create soldiers who just follow orders with very little own initiatives. We need to encourage innovation and adaptability. This is best done with a embedded coaching structure in the leadership, where the people are stimulated to find their own ways, and gently pushed outside of their comfort zone to grow and think outside of the box.
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