Low-Confidence Leadership
October 08, 2008
By Margery Weinstein
You're not sure what it is—maybe it's that what they've told you would happen hasn't come true for about the 10th time, or maybe it's just their poor choice of ties and accessories—but, whatever it is, you and your workforce don't have faith in your leaders. You're not alone. Confidence in leaders is at a 10-year-low, according to the 2008-2009 Global Leadership Forecast, a bi-annual study conducted by Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global human resource consulting firm. Here's what DDI has noted about the way many of you feel about your company’s leadership:
• Since 1999, when the Leadership Forecast first measured organizations' perceptions of their leaders, HR confidence in leaders has declined steadily, with only 35 percent citing high confidence in the most recent survey. "This deterioration of confidence is a sign leaders aren't meeting the needs of the organization." says Rich Wellins, senior vice president at DDI. "Business leaders need to take note of this if they want to grow their organization."
• Leaders are dissatisfied with their development. Two out of five leaders don’t feel they're getting the development they need, which is a key obstacle to leadership confidence. Leaders want more opportunities to learn on the job, but senior management seldom takes responsibility for making this happen. "Great leadership doesn't happen by accident," says Wellins. "Organizations need to start listening to their leaders and make the right development investments if they want different results than they're getting now."
• CEOs aren't sending the right messages to leaders. Innovation and global acumen represent two large gaps in leaders' and CEOs' priorities, according to research from the Global Leadership Forecast and a recent DDI/Economist Intelligence Unit study. Leaders don't feel they're respected for innovation or the ability to work across cultures—while CEOs rated these high on their list of what is needed. "The message isn't clear if CEOs think these are the traits they need in the next five years, but leaders don't think these are respected," says Wellins. "Leaders are focused on the bottom line because that is the message they are hearing loud and clear."
• The U.S. lags behind most of the world in succession planning. Globally, only half of organizations have succession plans for their leadership team, and U.S. organizations were lower than the global sample. "This is scary, considering the high rate of retirements we're expecting over the next 5 to 10 years," Wellins says. "Organizations will have empty seats in key leadership roles if they don’t begin planning for their future leadership."
• Leaders who cross borders are unprepared. As organizations expand their global footprint, 20 percent of all leaders have some multinational responsibilities. But these leaders are ill-prepared for the roles ahead of them, as three in five multinational leaders consider their development for this role poor or fair. "We're sending leaders into key roles in rapidly growing industries and geographies without the tools they need," Wellins says. "They're facing new cultures and ambiguous environments without much preparation."
In this financial whirlwind, is your workforce growing more suspicious of leadership, and each other, or are they banding together now more than ever? Join the discussion on Training Day.
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