Leadership Crisis: Fact or Fiction

As shared services evolve and become more strategic within their enterprise, much will depend on the strength and quality of leadership that is guiding this transition. Project Managers are fetile ground for recruiting, as Russell Harley explains. The short answer it is a fiction. Even though there are a number of articles that differ from this point of view – including these at Forbes and the World Economic Forum. If you want to know why I think the leadership crisis is fictional, then keep reading. One reason for these differing points of views is that people are looking at different definitions of what leadership is. Someone could be a recognized leader in a particular field or business then changes fields, like Ron Johnson moving from Apple to JCPenney. Which did not go so well: 'JCPenney did away with this strategy [having coupons] after Ron Johnson assumed the helm of the company, modeling the company's stores after those of Apple.' (Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2013/09/27/a-strategic-mistake-that-haunts-j-c-penney) When people at senior levels look for leaders, they typically search for people similar to themselves, regardless of whether they would be considered leaders or not. This is termed a 'team player' or 'having a good culture fit.' A great approach, if you want things to stay the same. After all, JCPenney and Apple both sell consumer goods, so the same models for one could be applied to the other successfully… Right? Not necessarily. Leadership, by its very definition, is an act of leading, giving guidance or direction. To push the company forward you need to implement change, not keep things the same. As noted in this article at Inc.com, using 'best practices' is not an indication of leadership. Being comfortable with the people around you and following the pack is not leadership either. So what makes a good leader? The Holden Leadership Center at the University of Oregon lists a thorough list of leadership skills that encapsulate traits of good leaders. Two that stand out: Open to Change, and Initiative. Neither sound like traits of people who follow others. While these traits were certainly true of Mr. Johnson at JCPenney's, he failed at several others; like being Evaluative and Interested in Feedback. You need more than just a few of the items listed in order to be a real leader: Matter of fact, a leader should have almost all. There are also dangers in trying to be a leader. People can get into trouble attempting this with peers and superiors. The trouble can either be failure (due to lack of support or consumer outrage, as in Mr. Johnson's case) or that the individual is felt to be the 'odd' person out and does not 'fit in.' This obviously reduces the number of people that could be considered for leadership roles. The desire to have everyone 'fit in' reinforces the perception that there is a lack of leaders in companies. While this is all very interesting, what does it have to do with Project Management? Let's compare the leadership traits from above with what the Project Management Institute says are the key traits that all Project Managers should have1: Show their worth Understand business strategy Overcome hurdles Improve team performance These can easily be mapped to the aforementioned leadership traits. Plus, although many Project Managers do not realize this, they are really leaders within their organization. Are Project Managers not expected to lead project teams to successful completion? Communicate well with very diverse groups of people at all levels within an organization? Almost everything on Holden's list can be applied to Project Managers. While there are no solid numbers of Project Managers, a rough estimate puts about 9-11 million in the U.S. That's a lot of leadership potential. Assume that only 30 percent are working at what would be considered 'leadership' levels, i.e. major projects with multiple millions of dollars of budget. That still leaves around 3 million people who should have most of the traits listed by Holden. So what is wrong? With this many people possessing these skills there should no leadership shortage. It looks like there are plenty of people to fill whatever leadership roles are needed. The issue is company boards and C-level executives do not look at Project Management as a leadership field. MBAs and other leadership trainings are given far more weight. This is strange given the impact that Project Managers have on companies around the world. Typically the highest position in a company for Project Managers is a Director role of some kind; not a very high level of leadership at that level. It all boils down to the perception of Project Managers versus typical C-level candidates. There are Projects Managers that work directly with executives every day leading initiatives that will increase profitability, improve/transform their businesses. If you trust Project Managers to do these major efforts successfully, why can you not trust them to actually do a C-level job? The perceived leadership shortage is not due to an actual lack of leaders, it is due to looking in the wrong places for leaders. Until this perception changes, there will continue to be a cry of 'Where have all the leaders gone?' However, if you are willing to expand the horizon of your search pool, you will find them where they always have been: Right beside you, leading the critical work your company needs to get done. Source:1. https://www.pmi.org/learning/professional-development/career-central/four-must-have-traits-for-project-managers.aspx

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