Looking for a "real" leader

Herminia Ibarria - Professor at Insead and authority on leadership - is opening a debate that will be crucial in the next months: we need leaders.

Ya ya... We should have them, right? Politicians, Managers, Economists... But no, we don't. The crisis, after years of economic growth, welfare and "emotionally intelligent" conflicts (at all levels) is revealing the limits of the imposed "all-coaching" leadership style, the one who asks you "how would you solve that?" when you have an issue. Reason is simple: when you have a lot to loose (your top level salary, your leadership position in the category...), taking risk is a bad move... Gain will never be enough to force you getting in arms, finding enemies, upsetting someone, taking decisions.

But this is finished: "mors tua" mood is now on. And the leaders we need have to take quick decisions, define shapes of enemies and ways to overcome them in a much more complex way than ever: they have to do it ethically (because otherwise they will not survive long term) and sustainably, growing their talents and leaving an heritage. 

No, it is not Napoleon. May be even Steve Jobs is not enough! Which one, than? We could start asking new generations: they do not know other than crisis and they don't love leaders who are not able of decisions (I found thousand proves in conversations eith them) but still need some coaching a and reward. Not just that.

Is anybody out there ready to jump on? The throne is vacant.

HR: stop being so boring!

It will come a time when HR will start communicating differently, avoiding that boring, old, formal standards which make us feeling safer (more professional? More credible?). We are not safe: most of the time we are just ignored, that's why we oblige people to read us! WE MUST BECOME INTERESTING, and RELEVANT... see below

Managers on the run

The crisis has got casualties: first come those loosing jobs, second come those who got paralyzed by fear of loosing job or stressed by the pressure and the menace of it... but next one "lost in action" could be the Talent Strategy. As unemployment rate grows, management could feel safe about retention ("where else they can go?"), which is not the case, Deloitte says in its Talent Edge 2000 report, as Talent Shortage is a big concern of top executives... 

So what's happening? Talent pool is much larger than before in a globalized world, with many talents to fish... but this increases cost of search and retention, and make people feel more and more a commodity. On top, Generations at work have probably never been so different, and Gen X is not making its role of transition and connection between the retiring Baby Boomers and the Y... and finally, management is much less attractive than in the past: as part of the public opinion is accusing corporations to be unhealthy for the planet and one of the causes for the current economic crisis, the new role-models are self entrepreneurs who aim to save the world with one single idea. 20 years of movies and negative literature have pictured the managerial jobs as unhealthy, useless, dangerous, unethetical, nonsense...

So, what to do??? Some answers are in the article @FastCompany, but one above all: develop the new generation of leaders, now. Before it's too late.