We must find ways to bridge the leadership gap.
Leadership is critical to any successful organisation, and developing influential leaders is essential for long-term success.
Besides from leadership training, there’s a simple yet harsh solution:
Less is more.
By appointing fewer leaders and allowing good leaders to lead bigger groups, organisations can streamline decision-making processes, reduce bureaucracy, and promote the growth and development of their most effective employees.
Here we go:
The Leadership Gap
Leadership is a crucial component of any successful organisation. It drives innovation, fosters collaboration, and inspires employees to achieve their best results. However, finding and training influential leaders can be a significant challenge for many organisations.
A Gallup study examining corporate leadership and management found that only 10% of employees are natural leaders. Furthermore, the study found that an additional 20% of employees could become good leaders with the proper guidance and training. 1Gallup: Only One in Ten Possess the Talent To Manage (2015).
The good news is that these findings suggest that, while leadership abilities are not innate, they can be developed with the proper support.
The bad news? Roughly 70% of the workforce shouldn’t be considered leadership material. No wonder 8 out of 10 businesses report that leadership is lacking. 2Zippia: 36 Powerful Leadership Statistics: Things All Aspiring Leaders Should Know (2023).
Natural leaders are rare, but businesses need them in droves. Due to a lack of proper training and organisational bloat, weak leaders outnumber strong leaders by a staggering majority.
Ouch.
Learn more: The Leadership Gap (Less is More)
Middle Management Hell
This natural shortage of capable leaders hasn’t stopped the corporate world from appointing leaders left and right. As a consultant, I often encounter organisations where one person does what five managers tell them to do.
Now, I’m not talking about CEOs here. I’m talking about anyone an organisation has granted authority over others. I’m talking, of course, about the seemingly ever-expanding sphere of middle managers.
One critical issue contributing to the leadership gap is corporations’ tendency to appoint too many middle managers.
Too many non-performing managers in too many layers can lead to inefficiencies, unnecessary bureaucracy, and a lack of clarity regarding decision-making and accountability.
No wonder, then, that so many organisations struggle to find and train enough leaders to fulfil their needs.
Training Can’t Fix the Leadership Gap
How do we solve the problem of the leadership gap?
Apart from better recruiting, the go-to answer is leadership training. Even if everyone isn’t born with leadership qualities, such skills can be trained, right? Even “the 70%” (who lack the basic aptitude for management) could be made into efficient leaders with proper development — right? 3Forbes: Leadership Development Is A $366 Billion Industry: Here’s Why Most Programs Don’t Work (2019).
Having media trained numerous organisations, I have found that the ratios for “spokesperson potential” correspond with leadership aptitude; about 10% have natural talents for becoming great spokespersons for an organisation, and another 20% can achieve this with moderate media training.
Now, almost anyone can become a successful corporate spokesperson with excessive media training, but the results will not match the investment.
Alas — training is an answer. But it isn’t the answer.
The Leadership Bottleneck Problem
There’s another significant factor to consider:
The leadership bottleneck problem.
As caused by hierarchical bloat.
Considering the challenge of correctly identifying and developing potential leaders, most organisations should be pleased if they can identify 30% of their coworkers with leadership potential.
Another way of describing the situation:
With each added layer of bureaucracy, the statistical chance of identifying enough good managers diminishes.
C‑level executives will have distinguished themselves throughout their careers. However, the further down the hierarchy we travel, the relative number of managers increases, and they become statistically less and less distinguishable as leadership material. 4Harvard Business Review: Why Good Managers Are So Rare (2014).
It’s a mathematical bottleneck.
Solution: Less Middle Management
Leadership training is essential, but not enough.
The solution to the leadership bottleneck problem is to appoint fewer leaders (especially middle managers!) and allow strong leaders to lead bigger groups.
Organisations that take a minimalistic approach to creating new leadership roles can streamline decision-making processes, reduce bureaucracy, and create a more explicit chain of command.
This approach also allows strong leaders to take on greater responsibilities, leading larger groups and promoting their development and growth.
Of course, ensuring that the right people are appointed to leadership roles is essential. This means investing in training and development programs to help employees develop their skills to become influential leaders.
It also means creating a continuous learning and development culture where employees can take on new challenges and expand their skills.
THANKS FOR READING.
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Annotations
| 1 | Gallup: Only One in Ten Possess the Talent To Manage (2015). |
|---|---|
| 2 | Zippia: 36 Powerful Leadership Statistics: Things All Aspiring Leaders Should Know (2023). |
| 3 | Forbes: Leadership Development Is A $366 Billion Industry: Here’s Why Most Programs Don’t Work (2019). |
| 4 | Harvard Business Review: Why Good Managers Are So Rare (2014). |
