Before joining the workforce in a
professional capacity, I knew very little of the term leadership as applied to
the workplace. I assumed leading people was a skill that could be learned
through school, much like the skills and knowledge that an engineer develops in
an undergraduate program. I was sadly mistaken shortly after being thrown into
a leadership position while in the military in a war zone. I soon realized that
leadership was something much more difficult than I could have ever imagined,
and I feel the same way about the topic today. I have a deep respect for those
who can empower others to do something greater, making themselves and those
below them better at what they do.
There is a changing trend in the
way leaders are viewed. In today’s workforce it is not strange to see young
leaders in roles with great responsibility. This is because of the dynamics of
leadership roles and the education programs that support these dynamics in the
workplace. This was not as common even a decade ago when the workforce had less
formal education and managers earned their position through years of work in
lower level positions. The responsibilities that leaders now have are much more
involved in the operations, the people, and the development of others. A narrow
job description for leaders in today’s workplace is absolutely the exception
and not the rule.
I think that this attitude toward
leaders has evolved because the role of the leader has changed so much in the
last few decades. Leadership programs in educational institutions get more
attention than ever, leaders are being tasked to develop their peers and those
below them, and they are being challenged with possessing technical skills in
addition to human skills. I believe that leadership roles are merging and will
continue to do so. There are fewer organizations with technical and developmental
leaders, as most are migrating toward merging the two into one powerful leader.
I believe there is a gap in the
quality of our leaders because the expectations of a great leader are outpacing
the actual abilities and knowledge of great leaders. The current workforce of
leaders is also mixed between a generation that has a plethora of experience
and virtually no education with a generation that has education but almost no
real world experience. One way to help bridge this gap would be to ensure each
leader across the major organizations is trained consistently with processes
and education that have proven to be effective in the leadership realm. People
expect some consistencies across leadership, but this does not always happen as
every organization is different in what they request from a leader, and these
leaders change their style based on this. There has to be some consistency in
the way we approach and lead our workforce.
References:
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/dec2009/ca20091214_346828.htm
