Leaders of the pack

With Leadership Week under way and the Sir Peter Blake Trust Leadership Awards ceremony held last weekend, leadership - who has it, how to grow it, and what to do with it - is a hot topic.

But leadership is a slippery concept. It differs from management, means different things to different people, and can't be "learned" through a course or seminar.

Those who desire to lead, say leadership advocates, need to take careful stock of their own nature, interest in people and commitment to a common good. Why? Because leadership backed by the wrong rationale or values can create havoc - after all, wasn't Hitler a leader?

"When we talk about leadership we are talking about a capability that is not always used for good. There have been studies around the pathological model of leadership, where leaders are so imbued with their own power and ideas they don't listen [and instead] surround themselves with people who agree with them. In the end they self-destruct," says Jo Brosnahan, a company director and chairman of Leadership New Zealand.

Brosnahan says leadership is founded on values, so the first task of a leader is to establish a common value base with those they want to lead. While a dictator usually has strong leadership qualities, his or her leadership is about power, rather than achieving a greater good. And Brosnahan says New Zealanders often get power and leadership confused.

"We look for the [powerful] hero leader, and then when we don't like something they do, we look for another one. But a leader is someone who serves over time with humility; Kiwis like humility," says Brosnahan.

She says the role of Leadership New Zealand is to develop future leaders and have conversations around leadership issues and wisdom. New Zealand has wonderful older leaders but doesn't always listen to and respect them, says Brosnahan.

One mature leader is Sir Ron Carter, the retired former managing director and chairman of Beca Group. At 71, Carter is still fully active, helping direct a number of organisations including the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rural Equities, and TrustPower.

He is also chairman of Air New Zealand's Safety Committee. Knighted in 1998 for his contribution to engineering and business administration, Carter says leaders evolve from the course of action they choose for themselves; if they choose wisely people will flock to support them.

A leader like Hitler had the respect of the people because they believed in his philosophy that the creation of a strong German state was for the common good. However, they were misled, says Carter, because besides passion and vision; skill and knowledge, a good leader has humanity.

"It's interesting that leaders are decided by people who are junior to them, while managers are decided by those senior to them," says Carter.

He says that the easiest part about leading is to like, trust and respect people. Carter says that far from being fickle, young people such as those in the elusive Generation Y category sought by employers are the most passionate about working towards a vision with worthy end results.

"With young people you have openness. Today, with so many opportunities, it's not surprising that [many] young people go for the opportunity that helps them to achieve the most in the material sense. But their [attraction to] the satisfaction of helping people shouldn't be underestimated either," says Carter.

He says there are other definitions of wealth such as worthiness of life and community contribution, and more of the wealth New Zealand creates should be invested into future generations.

"There seems to be reluctance to do that, yet it is so important. New Zealand has only had about 150 years - I have lived half the [economic] life of this country, and cultures like the Polynesians and Maori have had to grow into a completely different western economy in that time. We are all learning about leadership - some faster than others," says Carter.

Jan Dawson, chairman and CEO for KPMG, describes herself as a "young leader, just starting out" and says time bears out which leaders leave positive legacies.

"Time tests whether the visions leaders pronounce are valued; this doesn't mean that they won't have a following at the time, but a great leader is someone whose visions stand the test of time," says Dawson.

She says leaders need consistency, communication skills, and self-confidence - traditionally men have found the latter easier to acquire, although this is a trend that is reversing and having a negative impact in the opposite direction, says Dawson.

"For me, there's still an element of 'Omigosh - when am I going to be found out?' But at the end of the day you have to be your own person. Feeling invincible is not a good trait to bring into leadership," she says.

Dawson says consistency is important when leaders are trying to espouse values; people are busy, and there's a need for reiteration in order to get the message across.

As for the old debate about whether leaders are born or made, Brosnahan asks: can a sprinter be made?

"If someone has no leadership skills at all, you can't make a great leader of that person, but you can hone any leadership skills that exist. Emotional intelligence can also be developed. Most importantly, to lead, people have to want it," says Brosnahan.

Carter says a leader like Sir Peter Blake is inspirational because of his passion for and commitment to a cause (a better natural environment) and his ability to encourage others; while Sir Edmund Hillary's work with the Nepalese illustrates how one person's international achievement can achieve for the common good.

Are we running short of Sir Eds and Sir Peters in New Zealand? Dawson says there's a question mark over whether New Zealand celebrates anything well, including leadership.

"We are quick to celebrate on the sports field, but look at [crystal oscillator manufacturer] Rakon. This is a very successful exporting company that we should be celebrating and instead we pick something un-PC about it and then try to destroy the company," says Dawson. (Referring to controversy about the possibility of Rakon exported technologies used in specific weapon systems.)

Dawson says although leadership is about serving people, not lording power, great leaders garner power as a direct result of leading by example.

As a result, the people with the power in an organisation may not be the ones designated as official leaders - for example a union leader might be more galvanising than a CEO.

Brosnahan says people forget leadership is about whom they are, not what they do.

"As a nation we tend to think of leaders as people in current roles. Yet leaders are always moving on and taking their leadership capabilities along with them. If I look at my own role models, [management theorist] Peter Drucker did most of his best work in his seventies and eighties as did John Gardner who became a Stanford professor in his eighties. Leadership is a lifelong commitment; community involved, engaging with people," says Brosnahan.

To get there, the leaders agree a few core basics are needed: personal character, spirit and resilience, empathy and the ability to see things from others' perspectives. Leaders are "big picture" people still able to analyse detail.

"If New Zealand manages to grow more people like this we'll be better off because leaders are the catalyst for change," says Brosnahan.