Leaders In London

Each year IBM surveys 400 business leaders worldwide and asks them what their top concerns are. And each year for the past three years, lack of effective leadership has been right up there at or near the top, as holding back growth. This year’s report (The Global Human Capital Study, 2008) was published this week and goes further than any previous reports in saying there is a leadership vacuum in large organizations. Here’s what the report says: 

Direction, feedback and clarity needed 

“Companies are finding themselves with a leadership vacuum, with fewer individuals who have the knowledge and experience to guide others through necessary business transformations. Without leaders who can provide the direction, feedback and clarity needed to navigate in a more complex world, companies will struggle to achieve business goals.” 

A significant barrier to growth 

“A lack of leadership capability has become a significant barrier to growth for many organizations… Without sufficient leadership talent, who will setthe direction? Who will paint the vision? Who will lead the change? It’s not only an HR issue. It is a business imperative….” When asked “What do you see as the primary workforcerelated issues facing the organization?”, the second highest answer was ‘lack of leadership’, coming second only to ‘inability to rapidly develop skills to address current/future business needs.’  

Inability to develop future leaders is a major problem 

The report goes on to highlight that most organizations are struggling to develop  future leaders. The report says:  “Not only are companies concerned with their current leadership capacity, they are confronted by their inability to develop future leadership talent …. Over 75 percent of companies indicate building leadership talent is a significant challenge. 

So, what do we do about it? 

We seem to learn best and be inspired by real leaders with real stories to tell, backed up with practical experience-sharing. Joining a community of practice – real leaders really doing the job in real time – and learning from each others’ experience, is likely to be an accelerant to any in-house leadership training and development initiatives. You could start by attending Leaders in

London at the end of this month, being inspired by the bank of world leaders on the stage, and networking with the hundreds of practising leaders among the attendees. And Leaders in

London attendees are entitled to free membership of www.TheLeadershipHub.com, the world’s online leadership community, where leadership practitioners and experts share experiences and learning. 

Good luck in dealing with that vacuum!